


To All the Worlds I've Written Before

by AppleSoda



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Comedy, F/M, Gen, KH3 spoilers, Letters, Personal Growth, Secret Crush, sora is basically anime peter kavinsky and you cannot tell me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-10-26 16:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 51,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17749643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleSoda/pseuds/AppleSoda
Summary: Axel accidentally sends out five letters Kairi has written into various worlds. Taking their training in a slightly different direction, the two set out on a gummiship to get them back, including a very important note sent to Sora that cannot get read at any cost.





	1. Departures

Training with Axel and Merlin was a repetitive process, and learning how to use a keyblade was something that looked easier than it actually was. At times, Kairi would look down at the dark screen of her gummiphone before packing it away again. It was a rare opportunity, to have the chance to ask Sora and Riku just how everything worked. But then, she decided to figure things out for herself. She had to.

 

She had seen heartless plenty of times, from when they first invaded the Destiny Islands to the shadows crawling over Hollow Bastion. There was one, though, that had never stirred fear in her. Because she knew it wasn’t a heartless at all. The moment she had held it in her arms, she knew for certain that she wanted to keep him safe and to protect him at all costs. That time, Kairi’s intuition had been spot on.

 

The heartless that populated the forests, unfortunately, were unlikely to turn into spiky-haired keyblade wielders that loomed on her mind for longer than she cared to admit.

 

Merlin had conjured a number of the monsters’ illusory forms, which littered the island for her and Axel to seek and destroy, trimming the time limit that they had each day. Kairi had gotten used to looking alert upon entering clearings, narrow roads, and developing the fighter’s instinc that she envied in Axel a little. He had gotten a head start, after all, in fighting heartless as a member of the Organization.

 

The distance she had felt from Sora and Riku seemed all the more palpable. That was why Kairi was grateful that in the moments she had to herself, she could write down everything she thought. Sometimes she kept a journal, but mostly, she wrote letters.

 

From a very young age, Kairi had loved to make up friends to write letters to, simply because she was curious who existed beyond the seas of the Destiny Islands. She loved the ritual of folding up a slip of paper with a kind note, putting it into a bottle, and watching the mail slowly drift out beyond the shores. None of her friends quite understood why that was something that made her happy, when there were other things to do and explore. But Kairi had always watched for something beyond the horizon.

 

The horizon she faced now was full of uncertainty. That much was made clear by Master Yen Sid and Merlin, who often spoke of a looming battle that would need her and her friends at their strongest. And yet, she was unsure of just how ready she was.

 

The small collection of letters sealed her feelings in as the days passed, and everything became clearer once the words were put down on paper. She had had a lot of time to herself in the time since the islands had gotten swallowed by darkness, and had counted the things she had wanted to say, one by one.

 

= = =

 

“Hey, have you seen the papers on top of my notepad?” Kairi asked. Her heartbeat thrummed with a newfound sense of urgency as she shifted through her belongings, which she had expected to be neatly stacked together, just as she had arranged them.

 

“Papers?” Axel looked up from where he had just slashed apart a shadow, which had burst into flames after a properly-aimed keyblade strike.

 

“Yes, I wrote some notes on light blue paper. I can’t have misplaced them…” 

 

“But you wanted those letters to go out, right?” Axel ran a hand through his hair, as if the exchange was the most natural conversation in the world, as opposed to an answer that would take her secrets from the safety of her bag to the four wilds.

 

The breath Kairi took through clenched teeth seemed to last forever. “You sent them,” she stated placidly.

 

“Yup, put em’ into some envelopes and took em’ to Merlin himself this morning,” Axel beamed. Suddenly, he got another good look at his training partner, whose brow was furrowed. He had seen that expression on Larxene plenty of times, and it was no less frightening on Kairi.

 

“I…wasn’t supposed to do that, was I?”

 

“Axel,” she replied. “We’re going to go get those letters back.” Her ice-blue gaze was as sharp as a pair of his former ally’s daggers. The edge in her voice, barely contained by her calm demeanor, was as apparent as anything. The words ‘or else’ went unsaid, but even Axel knew that they were implied by the princess of heart.

 

“Wonder what’s in them,” he muttered as they set off.

 

“Absolutely not,” Kairi bit back. “You’d better get that fact memorized.”

 

= = =

 

“I’m sorry, kupo! But the mail’s gone out!” The moogle tugged at its small ears so pitifully that Kairi almost couldn’t say anything back. But the unwelcome news meant that her problems weren’t going away for a while.

 

“It’s not your fault,” Kairi assured it. She handed it a slice of cake, and watched the small creature perk up before starting to devour a strawberry with a mercilessness she wouldn’t have characterized it with.

 

Mostly, the fact that a letter to Sora she had never meant to sent was now on its way out into the universe. Riku would be getting a far less embarassing misive, and three other notes, equally heartfelt, would be departing elsewhere as well.

 

She wanted them all back, and she wanted them returned as soon as possible. Unread.

 

“Ah, youthful indescretions…” Merlin stroked his beard thoughtfully. The three of them sat around a table at a bistro that the elderly wizard had taken a liking to at the center of Twilight Town. “They always seem to come up in the young charges that I take on. Well, no matter. Perhaps this task can be a form of training as well.”

 

He pointed to a shop where three young ducklings tended the storefront. “Visit that booth, and tell them that you would like to put together a ship to travel.”

 

“So we can head into the worlds where these letters were sent?” Her face brightened. Losing them had been nothing short of a nightmare, especially at the thought of someone reading them. But Kairi had never traveled, and the chance to do so was a promise that had yet to be fulfilled. Until now.

 

“Correct. You should really follow this young miss on an adventuror’s intution!” At the suggestion, Kairi shot a pointed look over at Axel.

 

Chuckling, Merlin gestured over to her. “Hand me that device, will you?”

 

As he took the gummiphone, the wizard waved his wand, sending blue sparks floating into the gummiphone’s screen. At once, it lit up and displayed a map of a beautifully-rendered nebula. In space, planets and worlds floated, punctuated by bright golden dots.

 

“Find those locations, and you’ll find what you seek. But take care, my young friends,” Merlin warned. “Whatever foes the other Seekers of light face loom out there as well.”

 

“Ah, I can take them. Besides,” Axel added, “we’re going to be getting everything but the kitchen sink thrown at us eventually. Why not take the fight to them early?”

 

“Axel’s right,” Kairi nodded. “It’s not going to get any easier. And we’ve had a great teacher.” She beamed, and delighted in the fact that the elderly wizard grinned back.

 

He held up a hand. “A word, Miss Kairi.”

 

“Alright,” Axel said. “Let me check out the parts for the ship.” He got up, and peered towards the row of shops, pointedly eyeing a stand that sold sea-salt ice cream pops. Kairi knew already that they were going to be getting a ship with a good-powered freezer. But she would accept whatever it took to get Axel to help her, because beggars couldn’t be choosers when it came to allies that would fight by her side.

 

“Merlin,” she sat down. “You said you had something to tell me?” Wariness crept into Kairi’s voice. Sometimes, the wisdom that she obtained wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear.

 

“A heart of light is a rare, precious thing,” answered the Wizard. His tone grew grave as he settled into his seat once more. “There will be many foes out to douse it. This I saw in a young King I guided many ages ago. As I said to him, I say to you:You’ll have to stay on your feet and take care if you want to protect those you care for the most.”

 

“Understood. I…I’ll need to get those letters back. They have a lot of feelings in them,” She looked off into the distance.

 

“You know, this love business, it’s a powerful thing…” The wizard added knowingly.

 

“Oh?” Kairi’s nerves, which had been calmed by tea and a mission ahead, were set back on edge.

 

“ Yes, I'd say it's the greatest force on Earth,” Merlin concluded. “Just goes to show you what the heart is capable of. Well, enough of that, let’s have you on your way.” 

 

As Axel returned and they prepared to head off to worlds unknown, Kairi realized that there was a great deal of things that she feared that didn’t have anything to do with the heartless. And as Merlin had said, there was a great deal to learn. But the world was ready and waiting, and so was she. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ROLEPLAYED THIS CHICK IN LIKE 2008 ON LIVEJOURNAL OR SOMETHING AND I FEEL BAD ON HOW THE GAME DID HER, SO NOW THIS IS A THING. Enjoy.


	2. The Forested Kingdom

 

“Just how did those letters go out if there weren’t any addresses on them?” Kairi pored over the large blue screen of the gummiship’s interface, watching five golden dots blink on a map of space. They had departed Twilight Town and Merlin some time ago, and were navigating towards where the first of the letters could be found.

 

“I dunno,” suggested Axel, who was boredly staring off into space. “Magic, probably?”

 

“Hmmm…you don’t know how it works either, do you?” She cast a pointed look at her training partner from the other side of the ship. “Well, it’s over with now.” Recalling the instructions on how to run the navigation system, Kairi entered the coordinates carefully.At every turn the little ship took through space, she knew they were closer to the types of adventures she had dreamed of setting out on.

 

The image that surfaced on the screen showed a tower framed by verdant, lush vegetation. In the middle was a tall, pointed tower. Small, glowing squares floated about the bottom of the icon lazily, like stars orbiting the spires of a castle.

 

“Looks like that’s the first place to find one of the letters,” She tapped at the screen. “I wonder why it was sent here…” 

 

No matter how much she prepared her heart to try to be braver and head out, it never felt like quite the right time to really go forth. But this time, the choice was hers to pursue her thoughts and recollections. Even if the letters had gone unaddressed, she had written each note, including the ones that weren’t for anyone in particular, with intention. Perhaps that was the best clue as to where they ended up.

 

Five letters in total had gotten taken from her papers and thrown into the universe. Five worlds were hers to visit. And in one of them, hopefully a place where Sora wasn’t, was a note that she desperately wanted back, and four were notes that Kairi didn’t mind so much, but wanted back anyways.

 

 

= = =

 

“I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere here—” The music was playing loudly, and Kairi was certain that her traveling partner wasn’t hearing her. The bar, packed with ruffians, had burst into song. Upon landing, Axel had been the one to suggest blending in with the locals. Through purchasing a round of drinks using his share of the travel funds Merlin had doled out.

 

Eventually, it was a task he had taken to heart a little too sincerely. Including the singing.

 

_I’m a man of simple needs, sunsets, ice cream, friends in threes_

_But my boss decided he had some different plannnnnsss…._

_Like world conquering and ripping hearts out_

_Before some kid went and knocked his lights out_

_Now he’s back and we’ve work to do before vacation…._

 

Kairi had never figured Axel to be someone that possessed musical talents, but keyblade training never really presented the opportunity for demonstrations. After a round of drinks shared at the tavern named, for some reason, the Snuggly Duckling, a lively tune was plinked out at the piano, and she had learned, through the entirety of song, the life goals of every ruffian and roughneck in the place.

 

_He’s got a dreeeaaaam, he’s got a dreeeaaam—_

_Ice cream, friends, and a boss that’s not so meaaaannn…_

 

Was this what Sora was encountering on his travels on his way to find her and Riku? Kairi supposed that it really did take someone of a certain temperament to fit in with the strange cultures one encountered in the universe.

 

Hiding behind a barrel, she typed out the words quietly: “Is there always so much music here? #Axelhaspipes #Learningaboutdreams #Corona” and, with a small grin, uploaded the photo she had taken. While Kairi was never one to try to take advantage of others’ misfortune, it was an opportunity that was difficult to pass up.

 

“Excuse me,” she asked a large man at the bar. He was carefully wiping pint glasses and seemed disinterested in the musical medly before him. “I wanted to find a good place to send a letter. Would you know of a place to do that?”

 

“Mm, this joint is too far out, kid.” The barkeep muttered, his voice low and gravelly like that of his friends. “You’re going to have to trek out to the capital to do that.” He pulled out a worn-looking map beneath the table.

 

“I see,” Kairi peered at their location, which was deep in the woods of Corona. There was still some distance between them and the Castle Town where she supposed the Moogle had fled to.

 

“Keep it,” the man said with a wry smile. He went back to wiping glasses clean without missing a beat. “Your spiky-headed friend’s earning me the best tips I’ve gotten in weeks.”

 

Kairi beamed. “Let’s wait for him to sober up, and we’ll be off.” Turning and taking a seat at the table, she waited to see what performance would be next.

 

= = =

 

A little while later, Axel propped himself against a tree. “I’m dead,” he mumbled. “Just…go on without me.”

 

“I don’t remember you being this….animated when you were a Nobody.” Kairi observed. They climbed out of the ladders leading out of the bar, complete with a latch-cover emblazoned with a bright yellow duck. There was a surprisingly complicated network of tunnels under the bar, likely used during raids or for other purposes by the bandits that frequented it. But as the departed, the path led them out to the lush forests that the map had shown the gummiship computer. Back then, it had been a collection of pixels. Now it was before her and real.

 

“Well, yeah, for obvious reasons.” Axel quipped. He propped his hands against his knees and hauled himself up. “But don’t worry about it. I’m still fit to fight in case any Heartless show up.”

 

A hung-over partner aside, Kairi took in the views of the forest before them with a deep breath. She had traveled to a few places before, mostly under duress, but this was a place she had come to by her own choice. The path before them was clear and the weather fair. A signpost helpfully pointed the way towards the kingdom.

 

Something white and fluffy wiggled before them, and out popped heartless in the shapes of weeds and dandelions, Still others took the forms of Soldiers that clanked about in noisy armor. Small shadows wriggled from out of nowhere, seeping out of the ground.

 

“Axel!” The keyblade materialized in her hand. Its familiar weight comforted her even as she faced down foes made not of data, but of the darkness that they had been training to fight. “You take the group on the left. I’ll clear the rest.” With that, she lept out and struck at one of the monsters.

 

The weapon in her hands had been unwieldy when she had first gotten it. In many ways, it still was. But as heartless burst apart from the strike of a keyblade, Kairi was certain that she could get used to the weapon. All it took was practice, patience, and focus. “Water!” she called, pulling magical energy from the air around her as jets rebounded off Heartless in a well-aimed blast. She leapt sideways as Axel’s fire spell hit a shadow that lurched towards her. In no time, they had cautiously cleared out the small horde that had attacked. Whatever Merlin’s training entailed, it had prepared them for at least one fight ahead.

 

Further out in the clearing, Kairi heard rustling noises from a hilly pass ahead of them. Silently, she exchanged looks with Axel. He nodded, readying the fiery keyblade at his side. Whatever they would face, they would do so ready to fight.

 

“Almost there, just have to be careful.” A familiar voice from a ledge warily called. “Steady…”

 

The keyblade in Kairi’s hands dissapeared instantly. She knew exactly who was near them. Her heart lurched in her chest as she collected her thoughts.

 

Standing before her, unsteadily jumping from rock to rock and surrounding by a trilling flock of bluebirds that flapped about his head, was Sora. And it was then that Kairi realized two things: that she had missed him very much, and that Snow White’s abilities weren’t as unique as she had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sad this song portion of Tangled got cut but we had to listen to do you want to build a snow man…LIKE THAT WASN’T EVEN CHRONOLOGICALLY SENSIBLE. COME ON
> 
> this minigame owned and i regret nothing


	3. New Sources of Light

It had made perfect sense that she had found him trying to do something complicated to make a friend happy. In the clearing below, next to Donald the Wizard and Goofy the Knight, was a young woman looking expectedly at the birds circling Sora’s head. An impatient-looking man was with them, too, looking beyond the horizon.

 

“Little birds, please don’t go…”

 

It wasn’t fair that they had to keep quiet when he was so prone to saying things like that.Axel’s suppressed laughter didn’t help much in their attempt to keep a low profile either. Carefully, he leapt from higher ground to where they stood, right before he caught sight of her.

 

“W-woah, woah, woah… Kairi?! Is that you?!” The sudden fall from the rocks had startled the little creatures as Sora landed on his feet. He had grown a little taller since she had seen him last, but seemed just as cheery as ever. As Kairi approached to see if Sora was all right, the looked her in the eyes and slowly, as if pulled by some invisible force, fluttered over, nestling comfortably into the hood of her adventuror’s gear. She could hear the content little peeps as one of them flew out onto the back of her hand.

 

She had never really understood why Cinderella and Snow White talked about befriending animals in such ways, but Kairi supposed that the rules of some worlds worked with their own logic. Even if she had never really gotten used to the idea of being a princess in some form or another.

 

“Uh….H-here you go?” Kairi slowly walked over to the excited-looking girl at the base of the hill, who had hair so long it was looped around her arms and an enthused expression. As if on cue, the birds leapt from her shoulders and hood to perch briefly on their new excited, animated friend, trilling into song.

 

“Oh my gosh, this really is the best day ever!” The young woman beamed, watching the little birds depart eventually. “Sora, are these friends of yours?”

 

“Yeah!” Everything always seemed to feel so much better when Sora smiled, which was, admittedly, very often. “This is Kairi, and this is—”

 

“Axel.”He raised his hand, running it through the long red spikes of his hair. “Commit it to memory.” Whatever he had had to drink back in the Snuggly Duckling, it had thankfully worn off.

 

“I’m Rapunzel. And this is Flynn. He’s taking us to see the lights in the Castle Town.” At the mention of lights, Rapunzel’s enthusiastic expression brightened even further. It was easy to see just how someone like that would make friends with Sora so easily. Kairi could warrant a guess that he was just as excited to go see whatever light festival lay ahead.

 

“Perfectly ordinary citizen Flynn Rider at your service.” The smarmy-sounding man sauntered up to them, extending his hand.

 

Axel raised an eyebrow and held up a poster that he had found in the forest. It bore the man’s likeness, with the words WANTED scrawled in big letters at the top.

 

“Prefectly ordinary citizen in a big misunderstanding Flynn Rider, at your service,” he corrected hastily. “Trust me, blondie and I have a binding deal. Don’t worry about it.” He held up his hands. And it seemed like he had no arms, save for what appeared to be a cast-iron frying pan hanging from his belt.

 

“So…what are you two doing here?” Sora asked.

 

“Oh, right…um…” It had been all too easy to put down everything she thought on paper, but words were always all the more difficult, especially when it came to him. Then again, writing out everything she felt was what had gotten Kairi into a mess in the first place.

 

“Merlin sent us out on an expedition. Makes no sense to coop us up forever if we’re going to be really helping you out later on,” Axel answered smoothly.

 

“That’s right. It’s been good training fighting real heartless instead of constructs, too.” Kairi added. She cautiously looked from Sora to his companions, hoping beyond hope that they had managed to make up something convincing.

 

“Oh…well, you’re welcome to go with us to the kingdom, if your mission is that way.” Sora suggested. From the looks of it, he hadn’t read her letter just yet. There was a great deal she had written, and he was never one to hide things. That, at the very least, was a bit of good news to tide over Kairi’s nerves. “It’s great to see you again!”

 

He had a smile that could put just about anyone at ease. That was one of the things that Kairi had always liked about him. And had written down. In detail. Panic crept back into her subconsciousness.

 

“Yup,” Goofy the knight raised his shield, adjusting it on his shoulders. “Gotta stick together in case anything funny shows up in the woods again.” From what Sora had said about his two most trusted partners in battle, the King’s captain of the guard was grounded and practical where the wizard was hot-headed.

 

“Right,” Rapunzel agreed. “My mother warned me about everything out in the woods. Ruffians, bandits…And monsters, too.” Her voice faltered as she listed off everything that was a possible threat. Turning, she looked back in the direction that they had came from. Something unsaid lingered as her cheeriness dissolved, replaced by a look if guilt that seemed deeply familiar.

 

It was then that the long-haired girl did something that caught Kairi’s attention. From the pockets of her dress, she drew out a folded slip of paper. Immediately, Kairi recognized the light-blue color of her stationery. Rapunzel looked at it for a moment, nodded, and continued.

 

Just which letter was it? Probably not Sora’s, but she had to talk to the other girl, and fast. And Sora couldn’t know about it at all. Easy enough to do, when all was said and done. Or at least Kairi hoped.

 

= =

 

The jump wasn’t something that Kairi supposed she could normally do. Then again, she hadn’t expected a girl with magical hair to loop it around a tree branch and ferry her friends across, one by one. Making her way across a ravine that seemed imposible to cross, Kairi grinned and watched Rapunzel leap across one last time, landing on the other side.

 

“You’re really getting the hang of it!” She beamed.

 

“I know! Isn’t it fun?” As they moved ahead, Rapunzel retrieved the rest of her tresses and scurried forward. “Say, are you working for Flynn to take me to the lanterns as well?”

 

“Oh…um…something like that, yes.” Kairi wasn’t sure how Sora had gotten to know the locals of the world, but everything had to start somewhere. “So, why are the lanterns so important to you?”

 

“Well…I’ve always wanted to see them. But I was scared to go, because mother had always said that leaving home was something that would open me up to a world that would put me in danger.” Off in the distance, Sora was animatedly taking a photo of a mysterious pattern with his gummiphone, saying something about it being a lucky sign. Kairi returned her attention to Rapunzel, who was nervously looping her hair around her arm. “She said that she could always protect me from everything out there, but now I’m not so sure about that.”

 

“Mm,” an unsetttling feeling had set in the pit of Kairi’s stomach. She had listened so many times to the idea that she needed to stay somewhere safe, to be protected, and that the world was full of danger. They weren’t lies, necessarily. But they weren’t the sorts of definite conditions that could box someone away forever.

 

Kairi shook her head. “Well, everyone has power. I don’t know how strong yours is, but even if the world is dangerous, you shouldn’t forget that.” It was something that she had to remind herself of when a heartless had battered her badly in training, or when her doubts threatened to drown out every bit of progress she had made.

 

Rapunzel’s eyes brightened. “Wait, that’s what was on this letter I got!” She held out the paper, one of five that Kairi had poured out her secrets to. “Did you write this?”

 

“Ah! Yes, I lost it!” Internally, she was relieved that the most important letter hadn’t made its way to where Sora was. But Kairi had never thought that someone else would’ve found what she wrote to be important. Surely strength had to come from whatever training regimens Sora and Riku had gone through in their travels, right?

 

“Do you want your letter back?” Rapunzel held it out. “I’ve read it so many times in the tower that I’ve pretty much memorized it.” It had been so easy to connect to someone just like that. Was that how Sora had gotten stronger and more knowledgeable about the worlds out there?

 

“Maybe it was meant to get sent to you.” Kairi smiled, happy that someone was able to make the most of it. “But if it meant getting you out the door to see your lanterns, I’m glad.” She thought to when the letter was written, and remembered its contents:

 

 _Hello there,_ the letter began.

 

_I don’t know if my doubts are going to win out, or if I’m going to finally try to triumph over my fears this time._

 

_Everyone has times where it seems easier to hide away from problems. And lately, I’m wondering if that’s the easiest thing to do. I don’t want to be someone that’s going to be a burden to my friends and make them worry about me. But how can I make that change? Will I ever become as strong as I’d like to be?_

 

_Well, maybe everyone has power, even if it’s just a little. And I’m going to take what little I have and see what I can do with it. Be well, wherever you are._

 

What had guided the letter from the forest where she had written it to a girl who felt lost and weak, out in the kingdom of Corona? Well, the answer was, in part, Axel making a boneheaded decision. And also, in part, the Moogles that warped through space to deliver letters and items to travelers. But some other force entirely had taken the letter as well. And whatever it was, Kairi was glad for it.

 

“Let’s get going!” Rapunzel nodded. “I’m so excited to find out what comes next!”

 

“Me too,” agreed Kairi. She caught sight of Sora at a bend in the road, who was waving excitedly. The two of them sped up to catch up with the others.

 

“Look!” He pointed. “There it is!”

 

Sure enough, down the hill was a bright, gleaming bridge that lay forward into the castle-town gleaming in the afternoon sun. Whatever lay ahead for Rapunzel, thought Kairi, it likely was something that would change just about everything. That was always the case when someone felt pulled outwards towards something bigger than themselves. The only thing you could really do was hang on and fight for what mattered the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I COULD NOT RESIST THE LIL TATBILB QUOTE BY SORA, SORRY (I AM NOT SORRY)
> 
> Tangled owns and has a lot of things that work thematically with what I'm trying to do. Stay tuned, I guess??????


	4. The Festival of Lanterns

The doors of the cell slammed shut behind Kairi as the guards shuffled away. Just about everything had gone wrong, and she drew her arms around herself. In the next cell was Flynn, or Eugene Fitzherbert, which had turned out to be his real name.

 

“Are you alright?” She asked

 

“No,” was the morose reply. “Not really.”

 

When the sounds of the guards’ boots faded away completely, she unfolded her arms and stood. Eugene had quieted as well, likely thinking about what had just happened.. She frowned, and checked the hallway for guards once more. Just to be safe.

 

Time was running out, and Kairi needed to act fast. Everything had changed in the last few hours, and underway was a test of what she had learned, with a price of failure that could cost dearly.Her heart pounding, she turned to the options that lay before her and what had transpired mere hours ago.

 

= =

 

Banners of lilac and gold were strung with care across rows of houses and buildings of Corona, each emblazoned with the bright sunburst crests. It was nothing like the festivals back on the island, and she couldn’t help but want to spend time seeing its sights a little more.

 

“Looks like they’re commemorating a lost princess,” Axel observed, halfway through his third skewer in a row. “Why do I get the feeling she’s a lot closer than everyone thinks?”

 

Kairi frowned, and pointed at herself with some uncertainty.

 

“Not you, look.” Across the street was a mural of the king, queen, and princess. Though the infant was chubby-cheeked and small, her face and hair matched Rapunzel’s exactly. The girl herself had disappeared somewhere with Flynn in tow. She had noticed that the two of them had gotten a little closer.

 

“Alright,” Axel cleared his throat “I don’t say this often, but stop hanging out with me.” Kairi looked at him confusedly.

 

“Go spend a little quality time,” With a grin, he spun her around by the shoulders and pushed her forward. Right into exactly who Axel had designated her to spend quality time with.

 

“S-sora, I didn’t see you there! So sorry!” Kairi stammered, vowing to get Axel back the next time they ran into any people that he had been preparing to see for a long time. They had been training just long enough to learn just what would embarass him, after all.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Kairi. Are you alright?” She put a little distance between them and nodded hurriedly.

 

“Yes, I was just…er…looking for something in this stall. Yes, right here.” Kairi’s gaze traveled to where neat rows of cream-colored paper were arranged on shelves, tied in expensive-looking ribbons. They looked wonderfully made, just like the blue stationery that she had been using to write down her most important thoughts.

 

“Are you writing letters again? I’d love to get one from you.” He beamed brightly. “Even when we were far apart, your words were able to reach the Realm of Darkness.” It had been nice of him to say so. The words of what she had written seemed distant and evasive now, but at the time, something inside her hurt as she set the note out to sea. It was a time when she had been hearing the voices of others— Namine, Roxas, and learned of the gears shifting worlds away.

 

Nothing she wrote down was so simple, save what she had written about her feelings for Sora. But then again, everything was easier when it was left unsaid, unread, and out of his direct line of sight. It was easy for someone with a sunny personality like him to wear his whatever he felt on his sleeves.

 

“Maybe I’ll just have to write you another letter, then.” Picking up the pack of papers and still panicking slightly about the letter that was on its way to him, Kairi paid before following Sora back onto the main streets, looking for more sights to see in the kingdom ahead. Donald had apparently spotted ingredients. Had Sora gotten into the habit of cooking? Kairi had never known him to know much about it. But sure enough, he appeared to be enthused about finding vegetables now.

 

There was a great deal about him that she had missed out on. But at the core, it seemed that Sora hadn’t changed much, where it really mattered .

 

At nightfall, their little group sat on the shores of the lake, watching lanterns lazily float up to the sky, released first from the castle and then, one by one, by the citizens of Corona.

 

“Gwarsh, they look like stars…” Goofy remarked.

 

“Each one is a little bit of hope to find their princess,” Kairi settled onto her seat in the grass, looking skywards. “A sign that they’ve never stopped looking for her…” She felt at peace with the fact that somehow, a letter of hers had given Rapunzel the little push she’d needed to try to find out what the lanterns really were. If all went right, there was to be a happy reunion in the kingdom very soon. Her thoughts glanced, too, at the tenacity to which Sora had once searched world after world for her and for Riku. She wanted a little bit of that bravery for herself when the time came for the trials they would face ahead.

 

“That’s her!” snapped a rough female voice. “The letter-writer that lured my little girl from our home with the thief Flynn Rider!”

 

Standing at the bridge was a cloaked black-haried woman, her lips set in a half-sneer, half-snarl. She was flanked by dozens of guards, each bearing wicked-looking spears and regarding her with suspicion. A few soldiers at the front even raised their weapons as they advanced.

 

“Hey, what gives?” In a flash of light, the keyblade appeared in Sora’s hands. He stepped in front of Kairi. “She didn’t do anything!”

 

“She did, and as Rapunzel’s mother, I hope you’ll see justice done for robbing me of my precious flower!” The woman’s voice was imperious and commanding as a triumphant general’s.

 

“Sora, don’t!” Kairi found herself saying. “I’ll be okay. Don’t fight people from this world!” Merlin had cautioned them to use the keyblade first and foremost against Heartless, Nobodies, and monstrous entities. Fighting off the king’s men of this world was another thing entirely. They couldn’t draw such attention.

 

“Trust me,” she reached out and grabbed ahold of his hand, squeezing it tight before turning away. “I’ll see all of you again soon.,” Kairi looked up as guards closed around her, already nudging her towards where she was to be kept.

 

= =

 

Was it really for the worse that Rapunzel wanted to know what was out there? She could have stayed safe, whatever that meant, if she had never left. But something told Kairi that the letter had done the right thing, when everything would be said and done. As the hours passed in the cell, she looked alert for the right time to leave, thinking about when the guards would be the most lax in their patrol schedules. After all, Saix and his Nobodies had patrols, checkpoints, and habits in the World that Never Was. She knew how these sorts of things worked.

 

A great commotion came from down the hall of the jail cell, and in bounded Sora, sounding out of breath, keyblade at the ready.

 

“Kairi!

 

“Sora, is everyone okay?” She asked, standing up in the cell.

 

The edge of her keyblade tapped against the bars a few times, testing then, before Kairi aimed it at the heavy padlock that separated her from the outside world.

 

“No more of this for a while, I think.” She pointed the keyblade at the padlock, firing a beam of light at it. In seconds, it fell away uselessly.

 

“Oh…right.” Sora’s expression was sheepish as he placed his hands behind his head. “You can get out of locked places now.”

 

“Well, I did tell you to trust me on this,” Kairi smiled back serenely. “I just to wait for a time when the guards weren’t here to do it.”

 

But even though the wall between them had fallen away, silence still hung between them, heavy and slow. She couldn’t bring herself to break it, knowing that there was a possibiltiy he didn’t trust her a little more. Frankly, there was still a great deal Kairi didn’t trust herself to do, which meant that faltering hurt all the more. But this was a time to put that hurt aside, and deal with it later.

 

“Rapunzel’s in trouble!” snapped the thief, seeing a way out of his particular predicament.

 

“Yes. We’re here to take you to her,” explained Sora. “Can you get up?”

 

“Yeah just…give me a moment…” With a pained groan, Eugene rose from the cell, stll smarting, likely from how the guards handled him. “Her mother…she’s not what she seemed to be. We have to get to her.”

 

“Right,” Kairi nodded. “And if she’s got a plan like she did before, we don’t have much time.” Hurrying, the three made their way out the back of the dungeon, rushing past mostly-empty guard stations. But right at the exit, the sound of soldiers rushing after them became louder.

 

As they leapt out of the tower, they landed right on the back of a briliantly white stallion.

 

“Hang on tight, folks.” Eugene narrowed his eyes as he gripped the reins, more determined than he had ever been in his life. “We’re about to take an express trip through Corona.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honest to god i forget that people in this series use keys like all the time. it does not come up that often past kh1 and so this has sort of fallen down my memory hole


	5. Reapers and Revelations

 

 

At the base of the tall tower that loomed over the edge of the woods swarmed a horde of heartless and Nobodies that writhed and clawed their way towards anyone that approached. En masse, they were a sentinel for the Princess of Corona who was somewhere trapped at the top of the tower.

 

The problem wasn’t however, either of those swarms. Looming over them was a hooded, black-coated figure that drew Kairi’s attention immediately.Someone like that could only mean one thing: that they were about to be in over their heads.

 

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show his face…” Walking out of the shadows of the forest, keyblade slung over his shoulder, was Axel. He wore an expression that Kairi hadn’t seen in training or on their adventures. Really, the last time that she had heard the chill in his voice had been when he lacked a heart and operated at the whim of the same Organization that the new black-coated Nobody did.“Marluxia, out of all the people that would crawl back to the Organization, I didn’t think you’d be the one.”

 

“Quite the reunion I’ve stumbled into,” The figure’s shoulders shook as they laughed. “But how rude of me to disguise myself among such familiar friends.” With a sweeping gesture, he pointed at Sora, who was puzzling over the man’s voice.

 

Gloved hands reached up to the hood and pulled, revealing a man with dusky pink hair and a venomous yellow gaze. “Although I’m unsurprised that you were able to figure out my identity, Axel.”

 

Kairi suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest that she had never experienced before. It wasn’t her heart, but the other one that lived inside her that was almost screaming out something at her. She clutched her hand to the space over her collarbone, breathing hard. Something about the man was bad news to Namine, even if she didn’t know what it was. She met the gaze of the Nobody, and stepped back as a look of recognition passed through his eyes, as well. Instinctively, Kairi pulled her keyblade into a guarding stance, sinking into a crouch should he try anything sudden.

 

“What are you doing here?” Sora demanded. “Axel, what is he talking about?”

 

“Why, what an astute pair of questions from the Keyblade’s chosen,” Marluxia exclaimed. “But tell me, Sora. Do you suppose heroes like yourself the only ones with missions to complete?” His gaze hooked upwards, as if waiting for something to happen. But there was only the sound of the horde of restless Heartless and Nobody standing guard.

 

He continued. “I made a promise to Mother Gothel to recover what was most precious to her, and so it has been fulfilled,” A slight grin slit its way across Marluxia’s face as he watched what had been the body of the woman that had taken Rapunzel captive as it plummeted from the chamber of the tower. Her voice was now rusted and low, reduced to guttural growls. All around her, the roots of the tree pulsed waves of healing into the gargantuan heartless, feeding and sustaining it using an unknown power. A many-petaled, delicate-looking flower that glowed with a soft light sat right at the center of the Heartless’ chest cavity. She thrashed at even heartless and nobodies that came too close to it, snarling viciously. 

 

“Like hell you are. We’re settling things right now.” Axel jabbed the Keyblade out, and a burst of flames hit Marluxia square in the chest, causing him to fall backwards with a pained growl.

 

“Very well, traitor. If it’s a fight you’re looking for…” A bright pink-and-green scythe appeared in his hands, and the Nobody’s yellow eyes gleamed menacingly. He leapt forward and swung the weapon towards Axel, who parried. The two clashed blades in the clearing with a ferocity that outmatched any ordinary skirmish.

 

“You’ve gotten soft,” the Nobody sneered, as petals sharp as knives rained down on Axel. “I wonder if you’ve got even a fraction of the ruthlessness that you had at the service of the Organization.” His movements were fast and sharp, and catching Axel off guard where he expected it the least. Loathesome as his words were, Kairi was certain that something had changed.

 

“Now, for something to keep our Princess and her knight entertained.” He gestured, as the Heartless sent two massive roots out at her and Sora, clenching its roots around them like vises. Kairi’s breathing grew shallow and labored. She struggled to keep ahold of her keyblade, but focused, closing her eyes. Kairi thought of the spells that Merlin had taught them, and, with shaking aim, called out to the weapon’s magical capabilities.

 

“Fire!”

 

At once, the root that held her burst into flames. She broke free of the Heartless’ grip, and landed on her feet, breathing hard. It was almost bewildering to have done it, but her heart pounded proudly in triumph. Sora had broken free as well, and was hacking his way across the surface of its massive body, and clearing out the swarm of enemies at the base of the tower as well.

 

Her mind worked quickly as they continued to fight it. What was keeping it alive? If Heartless worked anything like humans, they had weaknesses that they would try to keep hidden. The flash of gold as the monster moved gave Kairi a sudden idea.

 

“Ready, Sora?” She called, meeting his gaze.

 

“All set, Kairi!” Came the reply. It was a question-and-answer that had been a part of a game that they had played against Riku, Selphie, Wakka and Tidus back on the Islands. Players in teams had to work together to try to get a ball past their opponents. But Kairi had something a little different in mind for Mother Gothel than just getting something past her.

 

The spell at her keyblade that glowed to life was an orb of light that grew and grew. She aimed her keyblade upwards, and shot. As the light-spell arced upwards, Sora caught sight of it as he jumped up and swung at it, driving the orb of light energy towards the center of the Heartless before it could even see what was going on. The projectile had seared through the bars of the cage, and an unearthly shriek emanated from the Heartless as it grappled for something to hold on to, its eyes pulsating with anguish and pain. A few more blows, and it would perish, releasing the heart of the woman obsessed with the flower that resided at the center of her mind for so long.

 

So that was what the keyblade had been capable of. It was a weapon of power, and one that could bring about the end, merciful or disastrous. Unfortunately, the foe that she and Sora had fended off wasn’t the only one that loomed outside the tower.

 

Inside the sealed-off clearing in the forest, Axel was outmatched by his opponent Marluxia, who was fighting with an almost lazy ease as he fended off keyblade blows and most of the fire spells cast his way. It seemed that whatever warning shot Axel had fired off was the only significant attack he had landed. He was winded, slow and the weapon felt heavy and unwieldy all of a sudden when matched against the scythe’s speed and sharpness.

 

“I can’t believe,” he said, “that you were once considered someone who Lord Xemnas could count on to root out traitors. Perhaps everything that transpired in Oblivion was a figment of my imagination…like your little friends that you looked after”

 

As his keyblade collided with the scythe once more, something shifted in Axel’s gaze. His glare of exhaustion sharpened into something far more menacing, and his eyes glinted like something had sharpened them by cruelty. The keyblade glowed as he stretched out his hands, palms flat. Flames swirled around them as the weapon changed form, splitting into two. Kairi had seen him use chakrams before as a Nobody, but this time, the blades in his hands glowed red and gold, as if they had merged with fire itself. 

 

“I think it’s time you got a little reminder just who got asked to deal with traitors.” A wicked grin flashed across Axel’s face as he moved once again, this time with ease. The blades in his hands whirred to life as they struck true, at last.

 

To their collective surprise, Marluxia laughed. He rubbed at his face through gritted teeth.

 

“You never did like a boring story, Axel...”Reaching out, he opened up a portal of black and blue energy, sinking into it with relief. Axel had dealt a blow to him, even if it wasn’t fatal. Wthout another word, he vanished.

 

As they were left in an empty clearing, Kairi looked up towards the tower, searching frantically for what had transpired inside it when they were busy fending off the enemies that had gathered outside. Sora had caught up with Donald and Goofy, who had made quick work of the lesser enemies and was talking excitedly.

 

A few moments of silence had passed, before she saw a familiar face stick her head out the window. Rapunzel, hair freshly shorn but triumphant, waved out at her friends below.

 

= =

 

“Kairi, I saw your battle! That was so cool!” Rapunzel beamed, punching her fists up in the air. “I can’t believe that you were able to team up like that! I want to kick butt like that when I get coronated, too!”

 

“I have got to get me one of those,” Eugene nodded, gesturing to the keyblade.

 

“Er, these are a little hard to come by…” Sora laughed sheepishly. “Well, less hard to come by than I thought, but…” Donald shook his head disapprovingly.

 

Kairi looked over the unexpected friend that had gotten her letters. Everyone looked to be saying their goodbyes to the world, and to the people that they had met. “Rapunzel,” she called out to the other girl. “Will you be alright?”

 

“I was given a choice,” the Princess of Corona’s voice became quiet. “You know, before she…” Her gaze looked towards the base of the tower. “And I chose to not be used by her. I think that’s the first step I could take to being my own person.”

 

She looked Kairi in the eyes. “Isn’t that amazing, that your letter gave me the push to try to do that as well? So I’d like you to have this.” Kairi felt a small object pressed into her palm. It was a small brass charm in the shape of a sun, the emblem of the kingdom that had shown her the first challenging battle.

 

A flash of light near her hands saw her keyblade fall into her hands. As the charm floated onto it, the weapon changed shape. The light purple weapon that now took shape was topped by a handle of lanterns floating across the night sky and a bright golden sunburst at the end of the blade.

 

“Wow, is that a new Keyblade?” Sora grinned. He bounded over.“Kairi, that’s amazing!” The boundless energy that seemed to always surrounded her friend had helped him back on his feet with remarkable speed after the battle had concluded.

 

“Well, I do have to keep up with you and Riku, don’t I?” It had been a curious feeling, depending on him and fighting in tandem with him. All of a sudden, Kairi had learned so much about Sora and what he had been fighting out in the many worlds in the universe. She wondered if at the end of it all, just what he would see in someone who still had such a long way to catch up. There was a great deal Kairi wanted to be able to put into words. Slowly but certainly, she would find a way to do just that.

 

= =

 

“I have this feeling,” Kairi said, touching a hand to her chest, “that there are a lot of secrets sleeping in the heart inside mine.”

 

And to prepare for the battles to come, they would need to unravel a few. Even if the end result was just to make Namine feel a little less alone. All the clues she had were what Namine had felt pain at. The sight of Marluxia and the word ‘Oblivion.’ If that was where her search had to begin, then Kairi would start by piecing those two clues together with whatever else she could find.

 

Her usually talkative companion said nothing, and when Kairi looked at him quizically, silently asking if he had any input, Axel looked away.

 

They steered the ship back towards Twilight Town to report to Merlin, and to find the wherabouts of the next of Kairi’s letters. “Well, I’ve got to do one thing I’ve been wanting to do for a long time since we were working together,” Axel leaned back in his seat.

 

“Clock him in the face?” asked Kairi, glad that he was in better spirits about something, at least.

 

“Clock Marluxia square in the jaw,” He nodded proudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always pronounced Maluxia with a hard x in the name like Axel and Larxene and I was wronnnnggggg about thaaaaatttttt. Anyways this chapter ends this little story arc. 
> 
>  
> 
> Kairi’s new keyblade flavor text:
> 
> Sun’s Crest 
> 
> A Keyblade that specializes in Magic. 
> 
> Formchange: Lantern-bomb Launcher  
> Finisher: Gleam and Glow (Heals party, medium light projectile damage)


	6. Interlude: Room of Secrets

“Have you ever wanted to know someone you never really had the time to get to know?” Kairi finished off the last of her orange juice, and turned to the others. It had been some time since she was last in the Usual Place, but they had an afternoon to wait as the ship underwent a few tune-ups. Just enough time, she thought, to get caught up with a few friends in the area.

 

“Like a deja vu moment?” Pence, one of three teens living in Twilight Town that frequented the spot, suggested. From the time she had known him, he had always been perceptive to new information about worlds that they had picked up along the way.

 

“Well, something like that.” What remained on her mind were two moments during their encounter with Marluxia,. There was a pain in her heart that could only be linked to something to do with Namine. Then, there was everything Kairi had heard him say to Axel. Two pairs of secrets, both tied to the mysterious organization that they now pursued. Axel, she knew she could trust. But there were many others tied to his past, and she was determined to figure out what she could.

 

“Ah, Memory, a fickle mistress. That’s something we’ve been learning about in school. Or, well, I have. I don’t know about those two.” Olette gestured at the other two teens. Hayner stared back at his friend blankly. Pence, who also seemed studious, nodded in agreement.

 

How long had it been since homework and errands were the biggest thing she had to worry about? Everything had really changed when the Islands disappeared, and not even their restoration had really righted the ship when it came to what Kairi worried about.

 

Axel walked through the door of the Usual place, carrying a plastic bag that looked fresh from the freezer.

 

“Alright, they were almost out of Sea-Salt for today, but I got—”

 

He was promptly clubbed across the head with the finest weapon crafted in the Twilight Town Sandlot. “Ow! What the hell?!” He hissed. The blue foam bat continued to wave threateningly over him.

 

“Intruder to the Usual Spot! You’re looking at thenew and improved Summer Struggle Tournament champion!” Hayner growled, raising the foam Struggle bat again. “Don’t think you’ll be taking Kairi a second time.”

 

“Well…he was technically only runner up,” Pence added quietly. The other boy sent a forceful blow across Axel’s torso. Kairi could tell that it looked like it stung. Even though the weapon wasn’t a real one, angry teenage boys tended to have a certain tenacity when they got excited about something. And what’s more, it had to hurt Axel’s pride being clubbed by sporting equipment when he had likely expected a peaceful afternoon.

 

“Hayner, it’s all right. We’re on the same side now.” She held up her hand. “Actually, it’s my fault. I didn’t give you all the full update before he came back.” 

 

“How did you not tell them this vital information? Jeez…” Axel grimaced. He gingerly sat down on a crate, but passed out the bars regardless. It was a peace offering, if the inhabitants of the Usual spot wanted to take it.

 

“Wow, really?” Olette frowned, eyeing Axel.“Jeez, how much has changed since we last saw you?”

 

“We of the Uusal Spot accept all bribes in the form of sea-salt ice cream,” Far more amicable to the newcomer than a Struggle bat-wielding Hayner, Pence took the bag eagerly, and handed a wrapped ice cream pop to the still-distrustful boy. Hayner looked over at Kairi, who nodded. He took the proferred frozen treat and sat down, taking a bite at it with the exaggerated seriousness of a seasoned warrior.

 

It was a level of boneheadedness that she had missed a little. In the time that had passed, both Sora and Riku had gotten a little more serious. Well, the latter more than the former.

 

“Well, Axel is kind of the reason we’re here instead of training somewhere else. He sent some letters out ” Kairi explained. The ice cream had put everyone in a good mood, and it wouldn’t do any harm to talk a little among friends.

 

“Yeah, and one of them was to Sora—”

 

“HEY!” This time, Kairi wielded the Struggle bat that wallopped Axel in the sides. He had never seen the Princess of heart have such murderous intent flash through her eyes.

 

But the damage was already done.

 

“Oh my gosh, was it a love letter?” Olette’s eyes lit up. “Eeeee, I knew it, I knew it!” The girl had been a little too observant in the way that she had mentioned finding Sora from the first moment that they had met. But it was nice to have someone’s support, even if it was an awkwardly revealed secret.

 

“Man, and I thought everyone just sent stuff over phones these days. That’s impressive.” Pence nodded.

 

“What if I looked into your sappy notes, and told everyone about them?!” Kairi snapped, realizing that she was likely blushing furiously.

 

“Hey, men don’t write love letters.” Hayner boasted.

 

“Hayner, we are literally doing a project on Shakespeare right now.” Olette’s voice was flat. “Come on, it’s not embarrassing. Some people just communicate better through writing things down. A lot of visual art are ways of conveying feelings, too. That’s how we can figure out what people hundreds of years felt.”

 

The comment brought something to mind that resonated with Kairi, and it wasn’t about the letters. Something in her intuition told her that she had received yet another puzzle piece to put together. Feeling a little bit of sympathy for Axel, she tossed over a potion that would take the sting out of several blows from a Struggle bat, mouthing a silent but sincere apology.

 

“So even if someone’s gone, what they left behind can tell us how they felt?” She asked.

 

Olette nodded, evidently excited that someone else was taking an interest in what they were studying.

 

Kairi cast a look outwards beyond the chicken-wire fence that separated them from the rest of the town. “Where could I find a place here where we might be able to find clues to the past?”

 

= =

 

Dusks and Heartless had started to gather in the sewers of Twilight Town. It boded ill, even if the main passageways and boroughs were clear of them. Rumors were spreading through the town that they lurked beneath the streets. And yet, those sewer-lined passages were what separated Kairi from the place that the three locals had named.

 

The moment that she had heard about the Old Mansion, Kairi felt her pulse leap, and was unsure whether it was her heart’s or Namine’s. The sight of the house had brought back the sinking feeling of nostalgia, which barreled her into a past that only seemed to be partially hers to hold onto. 

 

“So what’s gotten into you, that you’re so gung-ho about coming here?” Axel walked beside her, and allowed his keyblade to disappear just as they had finished getting a trio of Dusks out of the way.

 

“I want to find out about Namine.” She had been hesitant about mentioning it for some time. After all, Axel could’ve been horrid to her, or the other way around. But if he had earned anything, it was enough trust to talk to him about the missions and tasks that they were on. And true to his word, he had helped her get her letters back. “I mean…didn’t Sora try to find out more about Roxas?”

 

“Nah, that guy fought every second until he figured out the truth about Roxas.” A bit of wistfulness crept into his voice as they approached the padlocked gate, which Kairi tapped with the Sun’s Crest, her keyblade’s new form. “Did I ever tell you how my Nobody bit the dust?”

 

Suddenly, Kairi realized that she had stumbled on another conversation with Axel that she wasn’t sure how to broach.

 

“Well, for what it’s worth, I want to try to learn about her. Even if we haven’t known each other, it…it just feels like something that I should do. I owe it to her.” She held her hand to her heart as the doors to the mansion groaned open.

 

Both Keyblade wielders coughed mightily as they stepped into the musty, dust-ridden air of the mansion. It had sat uninhabited for some time, but still teemed with Shadows and Dusks, which scurried about in the corridors and open spaces. Like ghosts, they lurked and loomed.

 

“It’d be easier to fight here if someone dusted,” Kairi grimaced, still coughing as she bounded up the stairs. “Maybe I should’ve taken that cleaning advice from Cinderella and brought some soap and a bucket.”

 

“Are we here to sell this place to vacationers, or are we here to find out about Namine?” Axel quipped. “‘Cmon. I’ve been here before. It’s this way.” He gestured over to a large door that overlooked the second floor of the ruined mansion.

 

When Kairi pushed open the door, she entered a room that was unlike any of the other somber, brown-paneled chambers of the mansion. This room appeared untouched by time. A light breeze fluttered against a set of lacy curtains that opened towindow overlooking the front gate. The walls were pure white, as were the furniture and ceilings.

 

Pinned up around the room were drawings in crayon, with colors slashed across paper into blurry portraits, landscapes and scenes. As Kairi approached to look at them, her heartbeat sped up in anticipation.

 

“Namine, were these….yours?”

 

Her gaze flickered to Axel, who was again inexpressive as he took a seat on one of the chairs. His attention seemed to be drawn to one of the pictures, where a red-haired blob walked with a blonde, spiky-haired blob. But besides them was a third figure, hooded in the garb of the Organization. Reaching out, he plucked the drawing from the wall and was studying it intently.

 

Kairi went back to looking through Namine’s records, one by one. She touched the surface of a drawing of Sora, keyblade of darkness poised over his chest, and closed her eyes. The paper thrummed with a faint energy, not just of a drawing of a time that meant a lot to her, but with memory itself. Another drawing of Sora clutching a charm— not hers, but a small replica ofPaopu, made her feel uneasy. So wasn’t all good, but that was a conversation that they could have.

 

So memory was what her Nobody had been working with for all this time. As Kairi made her way across the room, she stopped at a few drawings of another white-walled place. At the sight of it, she felt a small twinge of pain that was unmistakably similar to what she had felt at the confrontation with Marluxia.

 

“Did Marluxia…do something to her?” The pieces of the drawings fell together into a vague, but connected story that the Nobody had witnessed sometime in the past.

 

“Nothing gets by you, does it?” Axel got up, and walked over to where the set of drawings had been pinned up. “Well, I can tell you, but it’s a bit of a long story…”

 

“I’d like to listen, if you’re willing to talk about it.” Holding her phone up, Kairi took a snapshot of rooms, feeling that a weight was lifting off her shoulders. Olette was right, in that there were unspoken messages in things that people could create. In Namine’s creations, she saw someone that had been dealt a great deal of loneliness.

 

“I want to meet Namine someday” she said, “and tell her she didn’t have to go through this alone. Even if she was made to hurt Sora and me, I want to be her friend. Isn’t that weird?” Finding the room had meant a lot to Namine. Even if other things remained uncertain, of this Kairi knew with absolute certainty. 

 

“Weird?” Axel stood up as they prepared to depart once more. “Given the Keyblade wielders I’ve known, you fit right in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in the manga Axel stops by twilight town after a fight and Namine fixes his coat and I think it's adorable. 
> 
> also Kairi like bites him when she gets kidnapped so really, manga Kairi kicks ass?????? Where was this in the games?!


	7. An Unearthly Thief

Kairi could tell right away that the new destination they landed in was one that she would enjoy exploring. The world they were in was lush, green and, most importantly looked to be at peace.But she felt an affinity for it mostly because if she closed her eyes and felt the sun and smelled the sea, the place resembled the islands where she called home. How long had it been since she had had found a proper beach? Too long, it seemed.

 

The Destiny Islands was the home that had taken her when she had fell from a world that had been destroyed. It caught her and raised her and sparked a curiosity for adventure. No matter where she would go, whether it was onto a life within the Islands or elsewhere into the universe, Kairi was grateful. She was certain that it was a place that would always make her love the seaside.

 

A flicker of something almost like pain flickered across Axel’s eyes as he looked at a few beachcombers clambering about, finding shells and other treasures as the tides receded. The vision of shells scattered about the room of a sleeping Roxas came to mind. It was a time when the Organization had been in disarray, and the memory of a faraway beach had brought his friend peace.

 

“What’s the matter?” Kairi asked. There was a faraway quality to her voice, separate from his memories yet sounding like someone out of them at the same time.

 

“Well, I made a promise to go to the beach…well, a while ago. Didn’t keep it.” Picking up a shell, he stared at the whorled pattern on it with feined interest, “Don’t even remember who I made it to. Roxas and…There had to be someone else. Ugh, now how am I supposed to tell other people to get things memorized?”Axel scratched at the side of his head ruefully.

 

“Maybe if I can find out more about Namine, she can restore your memory. Even….even if it wasn’t a good one.”

 

“I don’t know if it works like that, Kairi. But thanks for caring about it.” He laughed. A little bit of energy had crept back into the training partner she was used to traveling with. “You’re giving this a lot more thought than the Organization would, anyways.” 

 

“Of course. That’s what friends are for. Now, first one to get the letter has to buy sea-salt ice cream!” With a challenge set, Kairi picked up her shoes where she had left them and started for the shore.

 

= =

 

“Hey, isn’t that it up there? Your next letter” Axel pointed to the eaves of a tree, where a still-sealed envelope of light blue paper sat.

 

“That’s it! I can’t reach it, though….” Kairi looked upwards, thinking for a moment. “What about this….” She looked around to see if anyone was on the road, and then reached her hand out. Her keyblade shimmered to life, and she pointed it in the direction of the tree, aiming carefully.

 

“Aero!” A small cyclone whipped up from thin air, as the letter was sent fluttering. Grinning, Kairi jumped up, ready to catch it.

 

That was how the plan was supposed to go. But just as Kairi expected to finish their task in the new world in record time, a blue blur rushed across the tree and snatched away her prize. It moved so fast that she couldn’t make out just what it was.

 

She landed on her feet, still empty-handed and bewildered.Whatever had taken her letter had to be around the area somewhere. Standing at alert, she looked outwards towards the clearning, still bewildered as to what just had happened.

 

Scurrying about on four legs a creature of some sort. She peered into the large, round eyes of…a dog? No, it wasn’t quite right. Too many legs. Atennae too. Kairi put a finger to her lips and looked at Axel, and approached again. Her and Selphie had tried to catch frogs as kids playing around in the islands. And what was a dog, except a slightly larger frog, more or less?

 

The assumption proved to be flat-out wrong. As soon as she leapt for it, the dog(?) cackled in a high-pitched, sharp voice that no naturally occurring animal made, and easily dodged out of the way. Leaping onto a tree bough, it clutched the letter in one hand and slapped its bottom tauntingly with the other, like a small child playing a prank would.

 

“Alright, that’s enough! Give that back!” Kairi lunged for the letter once more, this time weapon in hand. Her letter-thief wasn’t a heartless, but it looked like it had some bite to it.This time, the nimble little creature scurried over and she could feel its little legs jump onto her shoulders, digging its claws into her shoulders. Yelping, she thrashed about, trying to throw it off somewhere.

 

“So-ra?” The creature said, after babbling out several things in a nasally voice that Kairi couldn’t quite make out. “So-ra?”

 

“Is he saying ‘Sora…’?” Axel frowned.

 

At last, Kairi broke free, her gait clumsy as she struggled to find balance. Turning, she faced the little blue menace once more. It stood in the road, its gaze fixed curiously on her Keyblade. Then, a look of recognition passed through his face. Still clutching the letter, it sped off.

 

“Not your finest moment,” Axel shook his head. A wry grin that stretched onto his face suggested that he enjoyed watching her struggle with the cute critter just a bit too much. Somehow, it had made an acquaintance of Sora. She wasn’t surprised. He could make friends with just about anything and anyone.

 

“Maybe this is why _my_ parents never got me a pet,” Kairi sighed, taking off. “Even now, I still have to prove that I’d be able to keep up with one.” One thing was for certain. If any enemies that loomed ahead had the characteristics of whatever stole her letter, she’d be in for a tough time.

 

= = =

 

The little house that the thief led them to sat atop the hill in the secluded neighborhood. Once they had reached it, though, Kairi saw at once why it had taken them there. Surrounding the driveway and road leading up to it was a swarm of Heartless, which, upon sight, stalked towards them.

 

Kairi heard the bellow of the creature that had gotten them towards the house as he leapt towards the nearest Heartless, clawing it viciously. Taking the cue, she charged, Keyblade in hand and heard Axel follow. She would ask no questions if someone in the worlds they went to was in danger. Whatever she would do to try to get her letter back, it was a matter for after the battle. As the sun stretched high over the warm forest, her thoughts flickered to days of watching Sora and Riku spar on the Islands. But now, things were different and the foes to be fought were tougher than friends with wooden swords.

 

Was everything irreparably changed for the better or worse?

 

Focusing on the light of her new Keyblade, Kairi launched square lanterns at the Heartless, aiming for weak spots where she could. As they lulled about the forest, a Heartless prodded at one, before it exploded in a shower of sparks. Axel had gotten more comfortable with his weapon too, striking with a blade one moment and turning it into his familiar chakrams the next. Facing down their enemies, they defeated foes that took the shapes of flowers and birds resembled warped versions of the animals and plants of the lush island.

 

When the dust had settled, Kairi looked out for her letter. But she head the scritch-scratch of little claws. The thief had climbed up the sides of the house and into a window somewhere upstairs.

 

There was only one thing left to do. Tired of pursuing the strange creature, Kairi reached out and pressed the doorbell of the house. It was time to find out once and for all what was going on, and why her letter had been stolen from her.

 

“Stitch, did Nani try to hire a new babysitter?” A girl in a red dress peered out from the door. Peering out, she eyed Axel and Kairi with just a little suspicion, but a little curiosity. In her free, she held the envelope containing the letter, which looked like it had just been unsealed.

 

“Jeez, she really picked some weird-looking ones this time…” The child’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Um…Hello! have you seen a blue…is he a dog, or…” Kairi was never great at babysitting when she had tried it for a bit of spare change. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

 

“He’s tiny, got these little antennae, and runs around like he’s eaten three boxes of candy.” Axel helpfully supplied.

 

At the comment, the girl’s expression softened a bit. “Stitch? Yeah, he’s upstairs. He’s been out fighting those weird birds and getting the mail. Why, did he do something bad again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One time I took this ride at disney world where youre supposed to help catch stitch and the motion things in the seat make it seem like he’s crawling on the back of your specific seat. So thanks for inspiring the specific way I am making Kairi's life harder today, Disney imagineers


	8. Interrupted Days

“Experiment 626,” the squat little alien rapped a pointer onto the chalkboard. “Created by myself, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, as an accomplishment at the pinnacle of scientific achievement.”

 

Kairi looked over at Stitch, who was calmly tuning a ukulele, then looked back at the display at the front of the room and their lecturer, who had high opinions of himself. Lilo had pulled down a few chairs from her playroom to the living room for her and Axel to sit on in the little makeshift classroom. It was hard not to laugh at the much taller keyblade wielder perched on a short, squat little seat. But being rude to someone that lived in another world wasn’t something that she wanted to do. And it was something that, amusingly enough, Axel had picked it up as well somewhere along the way.

 

”To have the capability to carry out one single mission: destroy whatever he touches.” The diagram, which showed the little blue alien, was covered in notes and a few drawings of a creature that looked like Stitch. “Cause distractions. Sow mayhem.”

 

“This guy would get along real well with this weirdo I used to work with,” Axel leaned over to whisper. “He made a replica of your friend Riku to more or less do the same thing.”

 

“He made a replica ?? Why?!” Kairi repeated incredulously, almost knocking over her glass of water in the process. It seemed like every new thing she learned about the Organization threatened to be more outrageous than the last.She was certain that Axel had his share of secrets, but every time she learned of them, the warier she became.

 

“I must meet my scientific rival, if he makes copies of friends! But pay attention! The next part is veeerrry important,” the Alien turned the chalkboard over. “My hypothesis on my greatest creation turned out to be incorrect! Little girl,” he pointed to Lilo, “had tried to make friends with 626! Turning entire genetic coding topsy-turvy!”

 

At that part of the explanation, Kairi noticed that Axel had gotten very quiet, and was listening intently. She, on the other hand, had frantically fired off a text message to Riku in all capital letters. Then, thinking a little bit more about what Stitch had done, she looked up across the living room to where the little alien regarded them quietly. He turned his head to the side, eyes wide and almost innocent-looking, as he waited to see what she would do next.

 

“You’d like our help to protect her, right?” She turned to Stitch. “Because we have Keyblades, like Sora?”

 

In response, Stitch nodded vigorously, breaking out into a smile that even Kairi, annoyed as she was at her letter getting stolen, couldn’t help but find adorable. It was easy to see how he could make friends with the mischievous girl that wasnow rehearsing some sort of guitar music upstairs.

 

“I think we can stay a little while tomake sure things are okay here. What do you think?” She asked, turning to her partner. .

 

“If there’s good ice cream here, count me in. Nothing motivates training quite like it.” Axel stretched out his hands behind his back. “Learned that one from the old days. It’s never failed.”

= =

 

“If you had to go around missing an arm or a leg, which one would it be? It would come back after a week, but you’d have to spend a week going around without one.”

 

Kairi winced, and shifted Lilo’s backpack on her shoulders. They were taking turns walking the girl to and from school, but she hadn’t expected the pop quizzed.The backpack was heavier than she had expected, too.

 

“What would you do?” She asked back. The sipulations weren’t something she had ever thought about before.

 

“I have to use two legs to dance, so my left arm’s going to have to go,” Lilo answered matter-of-factly. “Stitch thinks he can walk on his hands. I’ve seen him do it.” Stitch was capable of a number of things, both described by his friends and demonstrated by the alien himself. He kept busy, whether through playing around, helping Lilo and her sister, or fighting Heartless at Axel and Kairi’s side.

 

“He seems to be able to try anything out of the ordinary,” Kairi remarked. “Kind of like someone I know…” At the thought of Sora strumming a ukulele while Stitch fought back Heartless, she couldn’t help but laugh a little. He was always good at cheering people up, and could make friends with an alien meant to destroy things if he put his mind to it.

 

“OooOoooooo,” Lilo grinned.

 

“Well….er…—Wait, no. No.Not “oooooOoo”,” Kairi protested, holding a hand up to object.

 

“That’s the kind of face my sister makes when she talks about David....” Lilo lowered her voice. “I’m still reading her diary. Don’t tell her.”

 

“I won’t,” Kairi continued down the path. She had figured out what had made Lilo such a great friend for Stitch. Both, in very different ways, had a knack for being destructive if they put their minds to it. That must’ve caused no end of worry for the people meant to look out for them.

 

The sounds of combat down the path put Kairi on alert. She heard the metallic clang of a keyblade against a foe, and frowned. Axel hadn’t mentioned that he was patrolling in the area. Strange.

 

“Lilo?” Her voice had a serious edge to it. “Could you do something for me?”

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Take your backpack, and find somewhere to shelter for a little bit. I need to check something out. Find Stitch, if you can and stay by him.” Kairi held out her hand, and the Keyblade shimmered into being, at the ready.

 

“If he finds any monsters, he can beat em’ up!” The girl grinned. “Maybe I can take pictures of all the gross innard parts when they fall apart!!” She excitedly grabbed her things, and scampered down the path. Whatever the case was, she didn’t scare easily. That was something that Kairi found admirable, and made her miss Selphie, and the days where they would catch frogs. It was quite possible that those days had passed already.

 

Kairi picked her way through the undergrowth, cutting aside plant Heartless that craned out to try to snag her with vines. Blizzard spells froze birds in place before the Keyblade smashed through them. Every now and again, the sound of another weapon like hers rang through the forest clearing.

 

“Axel….?” She asked warily. The figure was clad in the same cloak as his, and from a distance it could have been him. But as she approached, Kairi realized that her assumption was looking far less certain.

 

The figure had their cloak up, and in their hands was a keyblade that seemed to flicker in and out of existance, in a shadowy approximation of the Kingdom Key that Sora wielded. They breathed heavily as shadows disappeared, one by one, with each labored but certain strike. In the distance, another hooded Organization member watched.

 

Kairi’s eyes widened as she crouched down, looking on as the mysterious figure continued to train with the Keyblade. Whatever was in the Organization’s plans, they had included taking someone from their side.

 

“Hey,” Axel appeared next to her, prompting her to almost jump from her hiding spot.

 

“Don’t scare me like that!” Kairi swatted him in the arm. “When did you get here?!”

 

“I saw you skulking around the forest. You’re usually more alert than this. What’s up?” But before she could asnwer, his attention was caught by the two Organization members. Frowning, Axel looked at the Keyblade wielder, who moved jerily and inorganically. Almost like it wasn’t a human or Nobody, both of which could move more or less of their own volition. 

 

After a few moments of weighty silence, one word left him“It can’t be….Roxas?”

 

He looked once again, just to make sure that he hadn’t been mistaken, or that it had been some trick of the light. “Those movements are just like his…How’d they get him back on their side?”

 

“Roxas isn’t here, Axel. His heart’s safe inside Sora’s.” Almost reflexively, she touched her hand to her heart, trying to glean any clues she could from Namine’s, which lay inside her.

 

“Someone’s got to be standing there,” Leaning against a nearby tree, Axel tapped the trunk of it uneasily. They puzzled at the two hooded Organization members, and then looked specifically at the one wielding the shadow of the keyblade.

 

“Well, they’re too short to be Riku, and too tall to be King Mickey. And Sora…” Kairi double-checked her phone “ Posted a photo twenty minutes ago from somewhere far away and snowy…asking why Donald won’t give him a coat.” Kairi shook her head, and switched her phone off with an amused grin. He could’ve packed warm clothing from another world and taken it, but that would’ve been too straightforward of a solution for someone that charged into things like he did.

 

“What if it’s no one we know? Could the Organization be finding another person…or making someone up to use in the war?” Kairi looked out at the figure, still charging at Heartless, one after another. She heard the Nobody’s battle-cry, and, for a split second, was certain that she knew who the mysterious figure was. She had seen them before, and the memories pressed into her, vague but certain, like a familiar song.

 

Axel was breathing hard, and looked distraught. Something at the sight of the keyblade wielder had dug at memories that weren’t supposed to be there, just like looking at Kairi sometimes conjured up recollections of someone who looked quite a bit like her, but wasn’t. There was his promise to go with Roxas to the beach, and someone else, too. He felt as if he was on the verge of regaining something important, but that the remnants of it were just out of reach.

 

Somewhere distant in his mind, he heard himself yelling at someone—someone he couldn’t remember, no matter what, that he’d bring them back. Always. But then, as fleeting as the words came into his mind, they departed.

 

“Axel….You don’t look well at all.” Kairi’s voice was concerned as she pulled at his arm. “Should we go back, regroup, and return?”

 

“Yeah…Don’t know what’s gotten into me. They probably just made another replica and slapped a fake keyblade on to scare us.”

 

“Lea, Lea, Lea….” A snide female voice sidled into their conversation, just as quick and sharp as a knife. “If we wanted to scare you, we would try something far nastier than a simple replica.” In no time at all, the other hooded figure had appeared before Kairi and Axel. “But unfortunately, this isn’t just any replica.”

 

She drew back her hood, revealing two stalks of blonde hair sticking out of a short, beetle-like hairdo and an imperious expression. Axel’s eyes flashed with angry recognition, and he drew his keyblade at once. 

 

“Wow, not even going to introduce your old battle-partner to whatever girl with a stick got recruited into this one,” scoffed the Nobody. “My name’s Larxene. And you are?”

 

“It’s Kairi,” she gritted her teeth, and summoned her keyblade. Energy seemed to crackle off the Nobody in tiny jolts, even though no weapons had been summoned. This was a foe that could move fast and viciously. Her instincts said as much.

 

“Kairi,” echoed Larxene. Her shoulder sshook as a laugh, high and quick, passed through her. “Oh, this has been a truly interesting turn of events. I think it’s time for a test of our new weapon, don’t you?” She gestured to the figure, which disappeared in a flash, and reappeared before them. As the shorter Nobody pulled back her hood, Kairi gasped.

 

The girl had a dark hair, but her face, blank and glassy, was almost a copy of hers. In her hands, the keyblade shifted into view. Moving mechanically but certainly, she pointed it straight at the two Guardians of light, and sunk into a fighting stance.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riku would probably text back "yeah idk, replica me is actually pretty cool" or something and then Kairi would realize with great dismay that kingdom hearts game developers were involved in all this


	9. Spellbound Gambit

Kairi knocked back strike after strike by the mysterious girl, who was shakily but steadily attacking with a relentless fury as they clashed. For now, the girl fought slowly, as if she was a robot being fed instructions that didn’t quite go through. Compared to Axel, who was quick and struck from the side, she tended to leap and had an overhead strike that was a little like Sora’s.

 

Kairi’s knack for observation was an instinct that Merlin had recognized early on. In a contest of strength, she knew that she had a way to go. But what she could do was figure out just who it was that she had to face, in and out of the battlefield.

 

There were several people that fought with Keyblades (well, and one mouse) that she knew of. Though their weapons were the same, no two keyblade wielders fought exactly the same. But this girl, even if she moved a little like Sora, different than anyone— or anything that she had ever known. Watching over her was Larxene, a Nobody that, like Marluxia, seemed to hold secrets relating to the year Sora had gone missing. Wearing a bored expression, the Nobody twirled daggers that crackled with lightning, and floated several inches above the sand off in the distance.

 

Something felt orchestrated about it all. Axel, who was usually more focused than her, was thrown off by the sight of the girl. And then, it clicked.

 

This was a person that he had forgotten, either by his own accord or by some other forces at play.But Somewhere in his heart, whatever friendship they had must have remained. They were reunited, but neither knew.

 

“Axel! Try to remember your friend!” She called out. He moved sluggishly and dazed, but still parried the occasional strike from the girl. “What did you used to do with Roxas, besides eat ice cream all the time?! There had to be _something_!”

 

“I’m trying, alright?! Believe me, you think someone with _my_ catchphrase is goingto forget things on purpose?” Axel snapped back. He sent a fireball at their foe, who deflected the magic but was hit with a second magical blast, landing on the sand with a cry of pain.

 

Kairi shook her head, and moved to try to flank the mysterious girl from both sides. Of one thing she was certain. Even if the girl was a replica like whatever copy of Riku that had been made, this girl had a name. She had friends. And everything she had ever valued and loved was being held hostage by the Organization.

 

As someone who was on the verge of losing just that, Kairi knew that she couldn’t stand by and see it happen again. The words of the spell ran through her mind as she leveled her keyblade and aimed.If there was a way to save her, it would take time. And the incantation would buy them the time they needed.

 

“I’ve never met you, but you can’t stay with them,” she said quietly. “We’re going to find a way to get you home.”

 

Once, Aurora had said that it wasn’t so bad, to wait for a while if the time wasn’t quite right for something to happen. Kairi had never been sure about that, but as the keyblade-wielding girl circled them again, she raised her weapon and cast it.

 

“Sleep!” 

 

A cloud of smoke dispersed from the keyblade and emanated out towards the girl, who stumbled as she took her next steps forward. She swung the weapon once more, but then, just as the wave of magic hit her, time almost seemed tostop. Kairi’s heart almost seemed to stop as she hoped fervently that it had worked.

 

Then, the girl slumped into the sand, unconscious.

 

“Axel, take her and go! I’ll distract her!” Already, she saw rage flash into Larxene’s eyes as she disappeared from her perch on a nearby rocky outcropping. Whatever had been done, the Organization member was now freshly on the warpath.

 

“No, She’ll kill you,” Her training partner shook his head. The weight of the girl slumped under his arm, but he held fast to her, as if the memory of a friend was just about to surface. “I mean it. Don’t be stupid about this.” Though he had semeed unfocused throughout their fight, Axel looked warily at her, as if just realizing that she had gotten herself into something that could unravel, and fast. 

 

“You only have one chance to escape now with her. Trust me!” Kairi yelled back, before she snapped her gaze back to the Nobody. At last, she heard him retreat, but could almost hear the reluctance to go in his footsteps. It didn’t matter. Axel had to get the girl away from Larxene, no matter what. Kairi would buy them time. That was the plan. Everything else was uncertain.

 

Still, it was hard not to face the formidable-looking woman and not feel at least a little afraid. Her opponent stared her down with an imperious sneer that bordered on boredom. Once Cinderella had described a cat in her house named Lucifer that always looked like it was going to play with whoever he caught in his sights, and then eat them. This was probably what that housecat was like in Nobody form with knives held between each knuckle.

 

Sure enough, Larxene was true to her word and fought the part she looked. Fiendishly fast strikes of the throwing daggers strained every lesson that Kairi had ever learned in parrying blows, and zaps of eleectricity ran through the attacks to complicate things further. As she tried in vain to hit back, Larxene paused, her expression quizzical. Then, she lunged with a wicked grin on her face.

 

Try as Kairi might to dodge, she saw Larxene reach for something in her pockets. When she realized just what had been stolen, she struck with the keyblade, only to swing at empty air. Whatever the Nobody had in her sights, she was determined to get it.

 

“What a cute little gadget you’ve got there…Let me see that for a second…” Kairi felt herself yanked up by the scruff of her neck, and held in place, struggling to get free. She grimaced as Larxene took the gummiphone in her free hand and tilted it a little, then snapped the photo.Grinning widely, she teleported away, typed out something, and threw the phone up into the air. A dagger pierced the screen as it crackled with electricity, then fell into the sand.

 

“I think the pack of fools that I work with have gotten soft when it comes to Sora, don’t you? He just needs a little rattling, and we’ll be alllllll set for our big battle.” Larxene grinned. “It’ll be just like the old days…Well, not that he’d remember.”

 

“Sora’s not your opponent,” she found herself saying. “I am.”

 

“This is adorable. I remember when Namine tried to grow a spine like that.” They faced one another once more, and lightning crackled across Larxene’s profile as she readied another attack. “It didn’t work,” Larxene added, before she vanished, preparing to strike once more.

 

Kairi shifted backwards towards the water as her keyblade glowed with magical energy. There was a chance that her gambit wouldn’t work. But if she was right about how Larxene preferred to fight, there would be a jolt of lightning that would generate electricity far more powerful than she could handle, if the spell to counter it was timed just right.

 

“Water!” Waves of seawater flared to life, bubbling and jolting through the waves. Kairi sidestepped where she had stood, and Larxene charged headfirst a torrential downpour while completely cloaked in lightning.

 

Sure enough, there was a deafening crack as an immense bolt of electricity boomed out at the water’s edge, where the spell had kicked up a wave and crashed into Larxene. Shrieking in pain, she stared back at Kairi when the spell had cleared, shaken by the attack. 

 

Though her hands shook and she was about to collapse, Kairi rose again from where she had dodged another attack, and, with a still-determined gaze, pointed her keyblade at Larxene.

 

Surprisingly, the Nobody’s lips quirked into a smile. It was a grin through gritted teeth that was flooded with murderous intent. But both she and Kairi were hurt, and there was something keeping her from fully committing to a fight to the death.

 

“You’re lucky I’m following orders to restrain myself, or else I’d grind you into a princess-of-heart paste right where you stood…” Behind her, a dark portal opened up behind her. Clutching her arm and with jolts flickering off her body, she slunk off into it.

 

As soon as she was certain thatthe Organization member disappeared, Kairi felt herself sink into the sand, exhausted in mind and body. Whatever had gone wrong and whatever troubles lay ahead, she had taken one victory over the group that had been hurting her friends. And that was enough.

 

= = =

 

All she knew was that long ago, three friends had wanted to set out. And more recently, there had been a time when she was content to wait for her friends to come home safe. Even more recently, she wanted to join them in exploring and finding out just what was happening, no matter how high the costs were.

 

Each time the knives had struck, a cold shudder of possibility that the wrong move could cost her ran through her like a sudden, terrible chill. Whatever nerves that Sora or Riku possessed that could let them face down everything thrown at them hadn’t emerged for her. And when would they?

 

A cooling sensation fell onto her as she woke in the green light of a healing spell. She looked over, and saw Donald the mage nod at her. Besides him was Goofy, who tippd his hat with a nod. Which only meant that someone else wasn’t far behind.

 

“Kairi!” It hurt, to see him so stricken-looking. How had Sora felt when she had disappeared, or when he had to make the choice to free her heart, by taking his own heart in the process? Over her training, she had thought about prices that the keyblade asked of its wielders. Only now did she start to think about the tolls that it took. She felt herself pressed against the crook of his shoulder, her pulse hammering to life at the sudden closeness.

 

She had always wanted to tell Sora the truth, but it didn’t seem so easy. Not when it came to how she felt, or how she envied his ability to fight off his worries. That’s what the letters were for. And that was partally why Kairi had wanted them to stay secret.

 

“Sora, she broke my phone after that. I’m sorry that you got so worried about me…”

 

“Where’s Axel?” Goofy asked, looking around.

 

“He had someone important to protect. I asked him to go. We can try to find them back at the house.”

 

“Which house?” Sora asked. He let go of her, but the gaze in his eyes brimmed with questions. He glanced down at where her clothes and hair had been scuffed in the fight in silent worry.

 

Then Kairi heard a voice that she had never expected to be comforting heading into the day.

 

“So-ra!” Stitch bounded up to them on his fast little alien legs, and leapt into the Keyblade wielder’s arms, laughing energetically. He crawled about the back of Sora’s vest before popping over his shoulder.

 

“Stitch! You didn’t tell me this was his world!” Once again, Sora was in good spirits. And of course that was the case. Even when things were tough for him, Sora was able to smile for the sake of his friends, wherever they were.

 

Was that what had caused her to leap into harm’s way without hesitation? For a girl that looked like her, but came from somewhere else? When had everything gotten so needlessly complicated?

 

“Kai-ri! Kai-ri protect Lilo!” Stitch babbled, clapping his hands. He continued to explain something in his own language, mimicking the swishing of a keyblade.

 

“I told his friend to go find him once we were surrounded by two powerful enemies,” Kairi nodded. It had seemed so long ago, with all that had happened since. “Stitch lives with a girl on the islands here. ”

 

“I can’t wait to meet your friend, Stitch!” He turned back to Kairi.“And whatever happened with the Organization….” She almost wanted to wince from the topic. A million worries swarmed through Kairi’s mind. Would he pry out the answers or try to interrogate what had happened? Axel and the girl needed to be checked up on.

 

“You can tell me whenever you’re ready to, Kairi. I’ll be here for you, no matter what, okay?”

Larxene, she had observed, was a Nobody that could do harm with more than just attacks. Her true domain of warfare was in fighting her opponents’ resolve. And what she had said clung to Kairi like barbs. Was it right to ask him to promise so much? What would happen if there was a day when everything they knew to be true was tested? Would she be used as nothing but a pawn to try to shake his resolve?

 

Shaking off her fears of the unknown, Kairi took his hand and started back into the forest, following Stitch. Whatever could keep him by her side, she wanted it to last just a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Larxene’s post caption probably went
> 
> “Hey, keyblade kid. You suuuure that your little girlfriend is safe and sound out here? ;) #ticktick “ or something super trolly. Idk. I love kingstagram and had to get meta for some drama factor.


	10. The Second Letter

“Wow, that’s never going to work again,” Lilo turned the gummiphone over in her hands. There was a hole in the center of it where Larxene’s dagger had been thrown through it. She handed it back to Kairi, who pocketed the now-useless device. It would almost certainly be beyond repairs even with Chip and Dale’s capabilities, but somehow looking at it gave her a hint of pride, like it was a war trophy or an interesting-looking scar. Sora had spoken of a man named Leon with one that ran across his face that looked, in his words ‘pretty cool,’ and hinted at wanting one ‘kind of like it.’

 

The broken phone wasn’t s a scar across the face, but it was proof that she had fought hard, and survived. But what lay next was far less certain and promised nothing to them except more conflicts with the Organization. Sora had gone off to find something to eat as Axel, Goofy and Donald looked after the still-unconscious girl in the Gummiship’s medical bay. That left Kairi to guard the house from Heartless. But since Larxene had disappeared, the numbers of Heartless and Nobody that roamed the path up to Lilo’s house had been manageable.

 

“I read your letter with Nani and Stitch after dinner today, by the way. It was weird, but I liked what you had to say.” Lilo nodded. She handed over the light-blue paper so that Kairi could have a look. As she took ahold of the paper, Kairi recognized what she had written, just as she had with the note Rapunzel had received:

 

_I always wanted an older sister when I was little. Someone to talk to, to argue with, and to stick by through thick and thin._

 

_Sometimes, I have dreams about meeting someone— a woman that protected me from something dangerous, a very long time ago. She told me that I had a light that could protect others, and cast a spell so that I could draw it out when I needed to the most._

 

_I found that light in my family that took me in when I didn’t know anything, or anyone. There were friends in this new world, too, ones that I wanted to cherish and protect more than anything. And it was these connections that helped me be strong even when hope seemed to be impossible. Wherever this note finds you, I hope that the people by your side can do that for you. That’s where real strength comes from._

 

“Stitch liked the part about being strong when things don’t seem possible. I think he thought about what he was able to do to protect us. Nani, though, thought I should listen to your note and be nicer to her.” Lilo rolled her eyes. “I’ll think about it.” 

 

“Your sister looks like someone who works really hard to take care of you.”

 

“She does. And she tried really hard to keep us together after our parents died. In a lot of ways, Stitch helped me see that.”

 

“Really?” Kairi looked over to where he was constructing a large, very elaborate sandcastle on a seaside outcropping. “Dr. Jumba said that he was designed to destroy things. How did you change that?”

 

Lilo thought about the question for a moment. “Well, I don’t think he’s changed completely.” As if on cue, Stitch belly-flopped into the sand castle with aplomb, cackling manically as it smashed to smithereens. “But that’s what you do with family members that are a little different. And we chose to protect Stitch when it mattered, because nobody in our family gets left behind. ”

 

Stitch bounded over and looked to the gummiship quizzically, as if expecting something. Then he peered to the shoreline, and jumped up in excitement.

 

“Sora! Sora!!!”

 

In addition to a few bags of supplies, Sora carried something in the palm of his free hand that looked like he had taken great care not to move or break as he sped up the hillside.

 

“I can help with those,” Kairi offered. “We’re going to be taking off for Radiant Garden in the morning, but I’m sure everyone could get a boost from a good meal.” As she took one of the bags into the crook of her, she noticed that he had looked a little flustered. “Um, is something the matter?”

 

As a reply, she felt something small and light tip into her hand, and glanced down at what Sora had just given her.

 

Five seashells, stitched clumsily together in a star-shape. They weren’t the shells of their island, and the stitches were clumsy. But immediately, Kairi recognized the good-luck charm. At the center of it was a blue stone that looked tumbled in the waves but shone with the inner light of a gem.

 

“The charm you gave me protected me all this way. I’m sure you need a bit of luck too, if you’re going to be fighting with us.” “It’s not very good, but I tried to copy what you did…” Grinning, he pulled out the charm that she had stitched together years ago, when they were preparing to leave the Islands. It hadn’t parted ways with her until they had reached Hollow Bastion, and Sora was preparing to leave on a journey. She wasn’t sure when he’d be back, and didn’t have all the words to say what she felt about the chances that Sora would never come back.

 

Unfortunately, the words that she had now were different, and had a chance to find their way to him before she was ready. Would she ever be?

 

“I’ll definitely keep this safe, Sora—HEY! Stitch, what are you doing?!” The little blue alien, who had looked excited the moment he saw the two charms, immediately took Kairi’s and scampered off. 

 

“Stitch, I need to show Jumba your good-bad report card tomorrow! Come on, give other people their stuff back!” Lilo frowned, and set off on the path.

 

“Well, it was the thought that counts. But I think there’s a good reason he stole it.” Kairi gestured for Sora to follow her to where Stitch had bolted off to. “Just a hunch from the last time Stitch took something of mine.”

 

By the time they reached the backyard of Lilo’s house, they heard a clanking sound from upstairs as various items were tossed out the window, as Stitch grumbled about, rummaging through his things.

 

“Did he get excited like this when adventuring with you?” She asked Sora.

 

“Well, I didn’t call on him unless I needed help.” The other Keyblade wielder scratched his head, looking upwards in confusion. Then, they heard an excited shriek from upstairs, and Stitch cannonballed out the window in a blue blurry ball. As he unfurled, he held Kairi’s charm in his claws, mercifully undamaged. Next to it was what looked to be a circle made out of junk found aboard some sort of space-ship. Stitch excitedly held the two up for the others to see.

 

“…Oh! That’s…” Kairi recognized the shape after a few moments of looking at it. At some point, someone had tried to smash it, but it looked as if it had been carefully repared and kept safe for a very long time.

 

“A good luck charm!” Sora exclaimed. “Did you make that, Stitch?”

 

“Yeah, yeah! Ah-qua! Terra! Ven-tus!” A smile broke out on the alien’s face as he handed the charm back to Kairi, and then clutched his very own charm. “Stitch’s friends! Miss them….”

 

“Were they alien friends of yours back in space, Stitch?” Lilo asked. Her best friend nodded again emphatically. “Ah-qua save Stitch from Gantu!”

 

“That’s the bad guy that went after him,” explained the girl. “That must have been really brave of them, to take him on.”

 

Kairi held out the charm she was reunited with, looking out towards the sea. She wondered if Master Aqua had traveled the worlds like them before she was lost to darkness. Did she, too, hold a charm in the hopes of finding a way back? Mickey and Riku were still working to find her once more, in the hopes of trying to finding Ventus, another Keyblade wielder thought to be lost. This was information to be passed on the next time they reconvened.

 

“Stitch, we’re looking for Aqua right now.” Sora knelt down and gave Stitch’s fur a little ruffle. “As soon as we find her, we’ll bring her back to visit you. Is that okay?” At the news, Stitch looked immensely pleased, and clapped his claws together.

 

“Ooh, can she teach me how to use one of those, to fight aliens?” Lilo asked.

 

“She’s tougher than Sora and I put together,” Kairi nodded. “But we’d probably have to ask your older sister for permission first,” she added.

 

Lilo groaned. “Forget it,” the girl shook her head, and headed back into the house. “Nani would never let me do anything that cool. She’s allergic to coolness.” With that, she went off to get her things for dance practice, leaving Kairi to figure out what to do with her next letter, and the weight of what she had found in searching for her last one.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The little bead at the center of Kairi's wayfinder is a rounded bead made out of sea-glass. You can generally find them near the ocean in gift shops and the like. 
> 
> Did anyone ever see those Lilo and Stitch commercials where Stitch would ruin cute moments in disney movies or was it just me??


	11. Interlude: Rebuilding the Impossible

 

The girl’s eyes remained closed, partly from the exhaustion of the sleep spell and partly due to other, far deeper forces at play. Axel remained certain that he had forgotten something very important— a promise that he had made to Roxas, and to someone else. Was it to her? Of that he was almost certain, but he was never sure exactly what to trust when it came to tricks and lies that the Organization brimmed with. Even when it came to its own members.

 

There were quiet times in Castle Oblivion when Axel was sent to guard Namine’s quarters. In truth, he enjoyed those chats because the girl was someone to talk to when he didn’t have to keep his guard up. In one of those chats, the subject of the memories that she had domain over came up.

 

“If a memory is erased….It’s very hard, and sometimes impossible to get back.” Namine replaced a crayon and selected the right shade of green carefully, drawing out the world of Wonderland, where Sora was to be sent to next.

 

“What about Sora’s?”

 

“He’s a special case. I have a connection to him…as does Roxas. But you knew that already.” Namine selected out a crayon, and, making an unreadable face, started to draw something else. Axel was never sure whether it was a drawing that she chose to draw freely, or one that was going to warp the mind of the young keyblade wielder further.

 

“Every time a change gets made by me, or by some other forces at play, there is a cost…” She leafed to a different page and held the pad up. The drawing was of a red-headed girl, sitting and watching the sunset, next to a girl in a white dress that looked a lot like Namine. “Restoring or undoing those choices will also take time, or something else. But there’s always something that you have to give up.”

 

Namine wasn’t much of an optimist, but she tended to be a memoryworker that could always try to do the almost impossible. She had, after all, done the best she could when it came to the memories of Sora that Roxas had held onto. And though he was gone for a little while, Axel knew that he was going to be safe.

 

Those days had passed long ago, and Axel had become Lea again. But despite the fact that his memory felt fuzzy around the edges where he felt for the absence, he envied the hope that Namine held onto, wherever she was. Kairi was certain that getting a vessel for her would grant them whatever they needed to figure out the memories of the unconscious girl. But try as he might to find a space for this new Keyblade wielder, there were only thirteen members of the Organization, he was certain that all the seats were already taken.

 

Ignoring the jarring inconsistency between mind and heart, Axel decided to rest for a moment. He picked up a seashell collected from the last world he was in, and, pausing, put it into the cot where the girl lay. It seemed like a small thing to do, but the right one.

 

= =

 

Kairi sat vigil by the girl as Axel piloted the ship towards Radiant Garden. She was certain that she would never truly know what was happening, despite bits and pieces of the past surfacing from the depths of memory and the looming future.

 

“Namine, did you know this girl?” Larxene and Marluxia had meant to harm her Nobody, whether through imprisonment or forcing her into working towards their plans. Of this, Kairi was certain, because she had never felt panic quite like what jolted through her when facing down either of them. Whatever instincts had told her about Larxene and Marluxia in panic or anger or fear resonated sadness when she looked upon the girl who had summoned a keyblade into being.

 

“What do you think she was meant to do?” Kairi leaned over the glass medical pod, pressing her crossed arms over it. Kairi thought about a coffin that Snow White had once slumbered in while waiting to awake again. Was it simply fate to be consigned to somewhere like that if you were someone to be used and discarded by witches or the Organization? To be bait, a tool, or a hostage?

 

Once Namine was in a body of her own, she wanted to listen to whatever the Nobody had to say, and to try to ask for the help they needed to restore whatever memories had been erased by the Organization’s mechanisms. It wasn’t right, that someone, even if they weren’t completely real, would be roped about like a tool.

 

The ship landed with a sudden jolt, and Kairi steadied the medbay cot before she got up and headed for the exit. As she uneasily departed the vessel, she saw a man in a labcoat standing outside waiting for them. He held a clipboard, and two small chipmunks were perched on his shoulder. The skies of Radiant Garden, her childhood home, loomed overhead in bright dawn-colored hues.

 

Dale chirped out, “Kairi! Your gummiphone went dark! Did something happen?”

 

“Um….Larxene. From the Organization.” She held up the broken phone. “Specifically, the business end of one of her knives. Sorry about that, Chip. Dale.” At the mention, she saw the usually unflappable-looking Ienzo wince slightly. Likely, it had rekindled some unpleasant memory from his Organization days or another.

 

“That’s okay, phones can get replaced,” Chip piped up. “We can get a new one ready for you in a jiffy!”

 

“Axel had said there was someone you wanted me to see?” Ienzo, a scientist that they had taken from the Organization’s ranks, asked. “Someone related to the research that Master Yen Sid wanted me to do?”

 

“Yes. She’s this way.” As the two tiny engineers started to heatedly debate over the possibility of a stab-proof phone, Kairi showed Ienzo up the entrance to the ship, hoping that he would have some way forward for the girl, and for Namine.

 

= = =

 

“This puppet is a work of Vexen’s,” Ienzo concluded. They were sitting at the table at Merlin’s House, reviewing the notes that he took of the unconscious, Organization coat-clad girl.

 

“Vexen? And she’s a puppet”

 

“My superior in the Organization’s science offices. He piloted a replica program that could allow hearts without a body somewhere to stably operate. This vessel will help me create something for your Nobody, as requested. But I wonder what she was being used for by the new Organization…”

 

“Really? So we can help Namine soon?” Kairi’s face lit up. “If Namine comes back, she can help us try to restore her memories, too.” She pointed at the sleeping figure before them. They had already worked too hard to get her away from the Organization’s clutches, and she held the secrets of the Keyblade, as well.

 

Ienzo held up a hand. “A good plan, but critical research data remains missing. I need information about a Princess of heart’s heart, since Namine was your Nobody. And you cannot be the origin for data. What I need is a control. Someone whose heart does not contain a Nobody.”

 

Kairi thought for a moment. “What if…I called in a favor, and asked another Princess of Heart to let us collect that data?” She had talked amicably with other six girls while they were trapped, and found a group that had lived in many other worlds but were bright, resourceful, and kind, each in their own way. If there was any time that necessitated asking one of them for help, it was now.

 

“That is a sound course of action,” Ienzo nodded. “It will take two people to operate the machine that I have prepared, one to run the computer and the other to adjust the readers. The subject needs only sit for an hour, twice per day, for the code to run.”

 

Axel had been affected by their last mission, and was restless. If he wasn’t in good spirits, it seemed difficult to bother him to set out chasing silly little letters or princesses. Kairi bit her lip, thinking about who else to ask. Sora was probably someone who would jump at the opportunity, but she didn’t want to burden him again, or make him worry. She still felt anger jab at her at the thought of someone like Larxene using her as bait again.

 

“Riku, we can’t keep diving into the Dark World without a clearer plan. It’s dangerous there!” Mickey shook his head. “You need something to take your mind off for a little while.”

 

“I…I guess you’re right. I could say the same thing for you, Mickey. I know you’e worried about her.” Riku followed Mickey into the house, his keyblade slung over his shoulder. “Oh, hey Kairi. You look worried. What’s up?”

 

“We were looking at a mission to go find a vessel for Namine. Ienzo says I’d have to shadow another Princess of Heart for a little while.” Kairi explained. Riku was someone strong enough and capable enough of an ally that no one would worry.No one would try to use her as bait for Sora with a Keyblade Master around.

 

“Why do you need a vessel, all of a sudden?”

 

“We found a girl under the control of the Organization. She had a Keyblade and …I think Axel’s memories were tampered with. Somewhere in his past, he must have known her. I think...that we're going to need Namine back to figure out the truth. ”

 

A look of consternation passed over Riku’s face, as if he, too, was trying to figure out something that he had lost. He had been breezing through missions and tasks, save their main objective of finding Aqua, with relative ease. Those were the skills that had gotten Yen Sid to recognize him with a Mark of Mastery, after all.

 

“Gee, that sounds like a perfect job for Riku!” piped up the King. “Do ya think he’d be able to join you?”

 

Kairi nodded. “I’ve gotten some new information about Master Aqua. I can brief him when we’re on our way there.” She wasn’t quite sure just how useful the information Stitch had given them was. But a small clue was better than nothing.

 

As they finished preparations and proceeded to the Gummi Ship, Riku held up a hand.

 

“So, Kairi…” he said, holding up an envelope that Kairi recognized as the letter meant for him. “Did you mean for this to go out?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t put this in the note for last chapter but since Kairi received a Wayfinder charm from Sora she is now the proud owner of a brand! new!
> 
> Oathkeeper
> 
> A keyblade with the weight of a promise. Balanced in attack and magic. 
> 
> Formchange: Light Codex (All elemental spells add on holy damage)  
> Finisher: Highwind and Excalibur (dual-wielded blades, ups speed and jump ability significantly)


	12. Old Wounds

Riku’s question was a good one. And once, the answer had been simple. Axel sent a few letters she had never addressed to anyone, save for two. The one meant for him didn’t have anything world-ending written in it, but Kairi wasn’t quite sure how he would take it, either.

 

“Axel sent them out, and we’ve been looking to get them back. So far, people have been reading them. It’s…actually kind of nice.” Flipping a series of switches, Kairi watched their ship blast apart a few meteors, collecting a few minerals that could be used for repairs.

 

Riku turned the envelope over, picking at the sticker. “I see. Did Sora get one of these?”

 

“Yes, but his is a little different…” She looked away, trying to hide the blush creeping onto her face. “Axel really, _really_ wasn’t supposed to send that one out.” Turning away quickly, Kairi became interested in the navigation features of the ship to avoid eye contact.

 

“Okay, worse case scenario, he gets it and reads it. What happens?”

 

“Well, he might think it’s weird! Or sappy! And…then I have to awkwardly not talk about this again on this…Keyblade quest thing for however long it lasts.” She wasn’t someone that panicked often, not when it came to problems that could be plausibly solved. But this was different, and it felt like no matter how much Kairi tried to rationalize it, the letter was something that she just wasn’t ready to risk yet, no matter what. It was far easier to fight heartless, which she was still getting used to, then to really talk about her feelings. She ran her thumb over the edges of the charm nestled into her pockets. It was a promise that she would fight dearly to keep.

 

“When has sappiness ever, and I mean ever, gotten someone on the wrong foot with Sora? Especially from you?”

 

That was a good point.

 

“But, if you’re not ready…Maybe it’s best to get it back earlier.” Riku shrugged. “So, in light of all that, do you want me to read my letter?” He turned to her.

 

Kairi thought about it for a moment, and nodded. “Whenever you’d like.” She was brimming with questions, though, about what he had been seeing. Out of the three of them, Riku was always rushing into the most danger, diving into the realm of Darness with only his Keyblade and King Mickey at his side. Sometime after this mission, he would return. A small part of Kairi wanted to try to go with him. But that, she thought, would require proving her worth in facing off against the darkness that lay before them with determination.

 

Settling into her seat, she flicked at her new Gummiphone, opening the logs that Jiminy Cricket had sent to her about the world they were to visit. The name itself, Beast’s Castle, gave away which princess of heart dwelled there. The question, though, was gaining the trust of the Castle’s Master. She looked uneasily at Riku, who was focused on piloting. In the few moments they were together in training or meeting at Yen Sid’s Tower, Kairi was never sure about bringing up what had happened early on when she, Sora and Riku had left the island. Neither of them had talked very much about Riku’s past directly, but this looked to be a place where that couldn’t necessarily be avoided.

 

= =

 

Drink and food flowed freely, as did information that there was a Beast in the countryside that had been living alone for years. A transgression by Maurice, the town inventor, had cost him his daughter, Belle. Kairi hid the excitement in her eyes at the confirmation of the world’s reports in the logs she received. Belle, who was bright and positive, was a girl that kept the spirits of the other Princesses of Heart High when hope seemed lost. She had a sense for optimism that none of them shared quite so much.

 

“Did you ever try to fight someone the ‘size of a barge’?” Somewhere across the room of the crowded tavern, a large man was singing boistrously with his companions and fans about his various attributes, who had been recently rejected by someone he paid attentions to.

 

“I fought Xemnas,” Riku said proudly, after thinking about it for a little while.“That guy isn’t going to cut it in a one-on-one with him, probably. Especially if Xemnas threw a mirror at him.”

 

“Apparently, I need to brush up on my combat skills” Kairi made a face. “Hopefully, without the four or five dozen egg breakfasts. You and Sora didn’t have to do that to fight heartless well, did you?”

 

“No,” Riku hopped down from the stool and paid for their meal, grimacing quickly at the man, who was still singing away. “No, Three dozen’s just fine.”

 

Laughing, She socked him lightly in the arm before going to ask about a good place to buy some horses and a cart. It wouldn’t do to take the ship through such dense woods, and they were going to be searching for a while for a castle where the Princess of Heart they searched for was supposed to dwell. If there was an inventor, they could pass themselves off as travelers with similar machines, hiding Ienzo’s device on the road.

 

As the path twisted out of the village and into the woods, where trees twisted themselves around the landscapelike thorns. Heartless in the guise of wolves leapt out from the trees, and the cart had to stop several times as they fended off the enemies that appeared to leap from the shadowy woods. Even the path itself seemed to wind through the countryside with some uncertainty. Unsettling as well were the thoughts on Kairi’s mind about what lay ahead.

 

“Riku, I know this world isn’t going to have the best memories for you…” She noticed that as the castle gates approached, a look of apprehension crossed his face. “I took a look at the logs from the journal-keeper that followed Sora…Are you going to be okay?”

 

“This mission is for Namine, isn’t it?” Despite the grimace that crept onto Riku’s face for the briefest of moments, his face was neutral as he spurred the horses onwards. “I made a promise that I would help her whenever I needed to. And it’s one I intend to keep. No matter what”

 

= =

 

Beast’s Castle, from the outside, looked like no one had ventured into it in ages. Its grounds were unkempt and the gate at the front almost rusted shut. Still, its entrance swung open, as if the castle’s inhabitants had been expecting them. As Kairi helped Riku wheel Ienzo’s device up to the front of the castle, she felt a sense of foreboding. They were being watched.

 

The doors to the castle swung open into a vast entrance hall. Only a few candles were lit as they wheeled the device inside. It was funny how the house worked so much like the horror movies that a younger Riku snuck into and liked to describe to Sora and Kairi, neither of whom could stomach anything scarier than a halloween costume at the time.

 

Suddenly, a loud roar came from within the depths of one of the rooms. Out bounded a large brown shape and slammed Riku against a pillar. The suddenness had taken advantage of Riku’s reflexes.

 

“You,” the Beast declared through clenched teeth. “What are you doing here?!”

 

In a matter of moments, Riku had broken from the grip just as easily as he was caught in it. He had his back to the wall, but had summoned his keyblade and held it defensively, shielding for a second attack.

 

“I don’t want any trouble. Not this time.”

 

“We’re Sora’s friends, Beast. And we need Belle’s help for a mission—”

 

“HE’s caused enough trouble here. Stalking around the castle. MY castle, and summoning Heartless.” The Beast pointed one enraged claw at Riku, who relaxed his stance, and looked at the Castle’s Master in confusion. “Starting the same trouble he did when he stole Belle the first time.”

 

Riku said nothing, and was expressionless. Kairi could tell that he was hiding a few old wounds, and stepped in. “Please. We have a friend….under a curse that needs to be broken. Belle won’t be hurt. And I know how terrible it feels to have been taken captive.” She clutched her hand to her heart, remembering that it had been wrenched from her for the sake of a witch’s schemes.

 

“Kairi?” At the top of the stair was a familiar face. At the sight of her, Belle’s face broke into a smile. “You’ve changed so much! My goodness!” She rushed down the stairs leading to another wing of rooms, and bounded towards her. Though she wore a blue-and-white gown, Belle looked right at home in the castle. “I didn’t think that I would get a visitor here ever since Sora last left.”

 

Whatever chances there were of a fight breaking out, it had dissapated. “Bring their things to her quarters,” was all the Beast grumbled to two suits of armor, who proceeded to carefully but mechanically haul the machinery up the stiars. “I need to see to the Heartless.”

 

As his form retreated, Kairi watched Riku’s shoulders relax a little. Whatever remained between the boy and the Beast, it would take more than proof that Riku posed no danger now. But what was that comment about the Heartless? He was speaking of a Riku that no longer existed.

 

“Mademoiselle, it is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Lumiere.” Piped up a voice. Kairi looked around for a few moments, then glanced down.

 

“Ah, yes…er….hello.” 

 

“Would you care for a light snack before tonight’s meal is served later?” asked a candlestick very politely. It seemed that whatever amount of the journals Kairi familiarized herself with, nothing would ever truly prepare her for the full experience of exploring the same worlds that Sora had visited. 

 

Truly, she thought, they lived in impossible times.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not going to lie one of the reasons I put Riku into this arc was to make him participate in the stupid disney movie activities that Sora does in the games that Riku for the most part does not
> 
> The Gaston song is a work of art and I will treat it as such


	13. Recipes and Reunions

The kitchen on the other side of the screen brimmed with a bounty of ingredents. Looming over them was Sora, who was carefully preparing them, one at a time. On the other end of the call was Kairi, who was marking down notes and sitting with Belle, who had a few wires taped to her and was sitting still in her chair with a thick stack of books. She regarded the machines with a little amusement, and explained that her father made machines just like the one they had taken into the castle.

 

“Well, he had to go through a lot, but Riku is definitely someone you can trust!” Sora’s voice was tinny over the phone speakers. He had his phone propped up against something, and occasionally glanced up, as if he was checking something overhead.

 

“Something’s not right here,” Kairi shook her head. “The Beast seemed to think Riku’s still wrapped in darkness no matter what we say. And he said something about ‘summoning Heartless,’ too…”

 

“Uh, should Ibe here for this conversation…?” At the back of the rows of machines was Riku himself, who was working on following every instruction Ienzo had issued to the letter. The scientist had lectured them at length on getting data on Belle’s heart exactly. Anything less, they were told, would risk hurting the hearts that the vessels would contain.

 

“Of course. If someone’s pretending to be you, then the first step is to think about if they might use your face to hurt other people. I bet that that would take forever to unravel.” She nodded emphatically, certain that that was a situation they wanted to avoid at all costs.

 

“Well, there have been more and more monsters in the hallways when we’ve been trying to move about…Wait, are you making bouillabaisse, Sora?” Belle peered at the phone screen, a smile spreading across her face. “That’s one of my favorite soups! I didn’t know you could cook!”

 

“Ohh, so _that’s_ how you pronounce it.”Boy, Little Chef is going to be amazed that I know how to say it this time! I’ll bring some to go the next time I come to visit!” Grinning, Sora continued to set aside prepared shellfish, one by one. “But Kairi’s got a point. If someone’s disguising themselves as Riku, they’re probably up to no good….Got any clue why they might do that?”

 

Kairi glanced towards the back of the machine, where Riku continued to collect the data that they needed. The mention of another him had caused him to move mechanically, as if his thoughts were somewhere else that they couldn’t reach. They had been apart for some time, but Kairi knew this for sure: if something was wrong, Riku would go to the ends of the earth and shoulder whatever pain he had to to make things right. And that couldn’t happen indefinitely.

 

“What if they wanted the Beast to get mad at him?” She suggested. “To start a fight?”

 

“Hmm, well, the Beast might still be angryat you for what happened in Hollow Bastion…” Turning, Sora set the stove on and began to add ingredients to a stockpot.“But hearts can change, Riku. You just have to work at getting him to trust you again.”

 

Belle nodded. “We’ll have to be patient. But he’s not completely unable to change….It’s just going to take a little getting used to.” 

 

In silence, Riku continued to work, taking the information in. Anything with a fight or a rescue mission in mind, he was perfectly fine with. Trying to convince someone who hated him that he wasn’t all that bad was another thing entirely. 

 

“That’s a great i—OW, ow ow ow!” Grimacing, Sora clutched at his head pain. “What was that for?!” He peered up at something out of sight. “Oh, okay.” He let out a sigh of defeat, and then held the phone.

 

“Guys, I’ve gotta go. Little Chef says I put in sugar instead of salt, so we’re going to have to fix this. Anything else you wanted to tell me, Kairi?”

 

There were, of course, a million things that she had wanted to tell him. Her heart had leapt frantically at the start of the call, as it always did, wondering if Sora had gotten her letter or not. A small part of her was imagining him reading it with the words making his face lighting up, the way that it did when he saw something marvelous. It was an incredibly dangerous thing, to put so much vulnerability into one missive. And yet, she had done it, even if it didn’t mean to be sent out.

 

“I think we’re just about done here, Sora. Will we see you in Radiant Garden again after your next mission?”

 

“Yes! I’m hoping for a place where I get a cool new keychain. The last world gave me one made out of ice!”

 

“Be careful out there, Sora.” was all Riku managed to get in before the gummiphone’s feed turned dark.There was still a farway look on his face as he glanced out the window momentarily. Then, he typed a few things into the machine’s keypad.

 

“I need to get some air..”

 

“The gardens are my favorite place to walk in good weather,” Belle suggested. “But please, try to return to the main hall in a little. We would love to host you for a meal, at least.”

 

Kairi gave a little wave to him, and watched the door shut as Riku departed.

 

Belle laughed as she closed her book, which she hadn’t made a bit of progress on after they had decided to phone a friend about the Beast. “Sora didn’t change a bit, did he?”

 

“Not when it comes to what matters,” Kairi answered. She walked over from her spot operating the data-collection machine, and began to pluck the wires from where the receptors had been taped to Belle’s clothing.“Alright, good news. You’re done for today. We just need to check once more, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

 

“It’s no trouble. I’m so glad to see you again, after all this time.” Belle had been the most inquisitive of the Princesses of Heart, and was always looking around to see if they could find a way out of Hollow Bastion, before Maleficent had forced them into chambers, unconscious and ready to use as vessels. “Have you been able to meet with any of the others?”

 

She shook her head. “I haven’t. Riku and Sora have been doing most of the traveling. But I think I’ve stubmled into an adventure of my own, too.” At the thought of how far the five letters had taken her, Kairi smiled. No matter what, that was something that could never be taken away.

 

= = =

 

Sliding back, Riku dodged a close brush from a fiery disaster. His eyes were narrowed and alert, and he turned to face Kairi. The situation had been dire, but what had happened just then was of utmost urgency. 

 

“Didn’t expect that candlestick to have such a vocal range.” Riku commented drily. A few of the moves from Lumiere and the dining sets had come a little too close for comfort. Still, they were nothing but friendly, especially considering everything that had happened between him and their Master. The Beast himself was seated on the opposite side, and looked at the taller of his two new guests with silent, seething impatience. It was a problem looming and seemingly unsolveable.

 

“I had a hunch he had that kind of…showmanship?” Kairi took a bite of something grey on her plate, paused, then tried a little more. “I guess you’re never lonely here, right, Belle?”

 

“No. I’ve been treated so warmly by everyone. They’re people that I want to protect, too. So seeing all these Heartless roaming…”

 

“Where are there more Heartless than usual?” She asked.

 

After a few moments, Belle answered: “The library. They’ve been clustering in that wing in the last week. They’ve been scaring Mrs. Potts and Chip, since you have to walk past it to get to the kitchens.”

 

If Heartless were there, that was where their foe likely lurked.

 

“Well, up for a bit of after-dinner reading?” She asked brightly.

 

“I’ve never done homework early, but there’s a first time for everything.” Riku pushed his chair aside, and headed for the doors. “Let’s settle this with whoever’s trying to get my attention.”

 

= = =

 

The corridors of Beast’s Castle were filled with statues that sprung to life, possessed by globby-looking Heartless that sunk into gargoyles or suits of armor. Kairi slashed through one with her Keyblade, and leapt upwards using the statue as a platform. She felt lighter on her feet the more they fought through, but the tides of enemies seemed to spring forth from something well-connected to the Realm of Darkness.

 

Was Master Aqua trapped in a place like that for good? And with enemies stronger than anything she had faced?

 

“Looks like the Library is straight ahead, past those doors.” Riku had cut a path forward for them, and was well on his way there, Keyblade at the ready. “I don’t know what’s going to be inside. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Belle’s room?”

 

“I’m sure. Whatever’s in there, we face him together. Nobody gets left behind, right?” She had heard the saying from Lilo, and liked the ring of it.

 

The doors to the library creaked open slowly, revealing shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling. Already in the Shadows, the beady yellow eyes of Heartless could be seen swimming around in pools of darkness. The furniture in the room had been turned over, as if someone was searching for something lost among the objects strewn about.

 

“Well, isn’t this a touching meeting….” As plain as day, the boy who looked the spitting image of Riku stepped out of the shadows. He was clad in a black and purple set of armor that Kairi had a faint recollection of, and looked a little younger. In his hands was a sinister-looking blade the shape of a bat’s wing. He drummed the fingers of his free hand across it, as if lazily considering which one of them he would cut apart first. “Imagine my surprise at finding you here: a weakling and someone that’s wasted their potential.”

 

“He hasn’t wasted anything, and I’d like to try to see you call me that again.” Kairi summoned her Keyblade, her face set in determination.

 

“Alright, calm down, Princess.” She grit her teeth at the nickname, backing up against the door so he couldn’t sneak behind her. The air was tense like a powder-keg that would go off at any moment.

 

“What are you doing here?!” Riku demanded.

 

“You thought you were the only ones training up for a battle ahead? Making Alliances?” The other Riku scoffed. “News flash: We get to do that too. I’ve got friends on my side, just like you.” He gestured out the window, where thick vines were already creeping up the rear walls of the castle. They were black with thorns the size of Kairi’s forearm.

 

“It couldn’t be…” She heard Riku say as he peered at the vines. “Why is she here?!”

 

“This is a great looking castle, and she wants it as a base for…I dunno, sorcery stuff? Doesn’t matter. I get to be better prepared to wipe the floor with every single one of you when the Organization’s plans are realized.” He walked over and picked up something. A light blue something made of paper. Kairi’s eyes widened at the sight of another letter.

 

“If you want your little pep-talk note back, Princess, you’ll have to search every inch of this castle to find it.”

 

At that, the copy of Riku grinned, and, with a gesture of his hand, disappeared into a pool of darkness, taking the letter with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was describing KH trios today and used the term “one regular boy, one tall boy and a girl. Usually something terrible happens to her” 
> 
> apparently Disney parks have the grey stuff as a food item you can buy but park food is expensive. Oh well


	14. The Price of a Clue

“Um, so….Riku, _what just happened here_?”

 

Typically, Kairi liked to try to make the best of a delicate situation. And she had known, given Axel’s chatty nature, that there was at least one clone of Riku running about at some point in time.That in itself had been strange news to take in. But seeing said clone in the flesh, trying to make them angry, was another matter altogether.

 

“Well, I now need to find and probably destroy him. As quickly as possible” Riku answered matter of factly. He was gazing up at a bookshelf, as if trying to see if he could make the jump up a ladder and into a small alcove above them. A few moments passed before he shook his head, deciding otherwise.

 

“Okay, what I meant…was…well” she gestured vaguely at the spot where the replica vanished.

 

“That whole attitude? That outfit again? I just…What was his whole _deal_?” She hadn’t meant to sound incredulous or impatient, but it was unnerving to get left behind. Despite everything, Kairi was still trying to play catch-up to that fateful day, and wasn’t happy that she had to do so. Riku had never kept anything from her and Sora when they were younger. But everything weighed heavily on him, more so since he had passed the mark of mastery. 

 

She squeezed her eyes shut and thinking back to the moment where for her, everything had changed for good. “The last thing I remember in Hollow Bastion was you telling Sora and me to make a run for it, that you were trying to hold Ansem off…then, you were gone. And right after, I had to part ways with Sora, too.” For so long, Kairi had wanted to go off on the adventure she dreamed of. But that was an instance where she had felt a palpable chance that all hope would be lost.

 

Riku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I don’t really like talking about that point in my life. It’s passed, for sure, but….” He made a little noncommittal noise at the back of his throat, cleared it, and turned away, embarassed. Refocusing once more to his usual cool-headed self, he looked to the door, on alert as usual. “But nothing really gets buried permanently. Not when the Organization is involved.”

 

So many forces had entered the game, and the chapter they were in looked like a path into a realm as dark as the woodlands outside of the Castle. “We found you and got you back eventually. And ever since, you’ve been getting stronger by the day. You haven’t let yourself get stuck in that place. Don’t forget that.”

 

He nodded, sensing a bright, steady confidence in Kairi’s voice that hadn’t been there before. 

 

“And honestly, everyone has weird phases. Like…Tidus, recently. When we head back to the Islands, he’sstill going to be blabbing with this pop star he’s got a crush on…” It felt a little awkward, trying to cheer Riku up. She had to give credit where it was due to Sora, who had made it look so easy to lift the spirits of a downtrodden friend.

 

“So where do you think your replica went off to?”Kairi set down a stack of books that the replica had knocked over. She noticed that already, the library ladder and a few footstools were quietly scurrying into place to tidy the mess.

 

“It looks like he’s went into hiding somewhere to try lay another trap. We need to regroup. Then, we take him down.”

 

= =

 

No matter how many talking pieces of furniture or tableware they asked, there were no further traces of the boy who resembled Riku. The castle was vast, and, much to the misfortune of Riku and Kairi, empty of clues as to where the Replica had gone. Though there were plenty of Heartless that inhabited its borders, Beast’s Castle offered few clues that were helpful.

 

“I’m out of ideas. It’s really looking like we’re going to need the Beast’s permission to find other places to look,” Kairi switched off the data-collection device. She helped Belle out of the wiring, plucking the receptors off the other girl’s sleeves one by one. Riku was looking out the windows with a concerned look on his face. “Problem is, he still doesn’t have the best memories the last time we met.”

 

“Could Sora come here and ask?” Belle suggested.

 

Kairi took a look at her switched-off phone screen, and shook her head. “He’s on a mission of his own. Plus, Riku would never be happy with calling in a favor for something like this. He’s got too much pride to do it.”

 

“We’ll figure out something on our own. Sora’s a last resort.” Shutting the curtains to the room, Riku crossed the threshold of it and looked towards the door. “What we have to do only gets harder from here on out. And…I want to see if I can connect with other people, the way that the two of you can.”

 

“HeEeEllllp! Monsieur, Mademoiselle! Emergency! Emergency!” Lumiere called, clanking quickly up several flights of marble stairs. His voice reverberated across the East Wing of the Castle.

 

“A man is riding up the path! My eyes and ears in the garden have confirmed it! What are we going to do?!” Cogsworth the clock was also galloping about on his short little wooden peg legs. “If the Master is seen or tries to confront him, it’s all over for us!”

 

“Who is?”asked Riku. He packed away the last of the machine and crouched down to face the unnerved servants. Mrs. Potts also clanked into the room with Chip in tow, wondering what the sudden noise was about.

 

“A large man, as—as big as a barge! He’s clad in red, and is leading a small group of hunters!”

 

“Oh, him.” Belle frowned. “He’s a villager from the same town as me. And….I’d rather not talk to Gaston, if I can help it. But if there’s no one else…”

 

That looked like a good opportunity to lend a hand. “Hmmm…I could answer the door posed as one of you,” Kairi suggested. “That way, it could look like there are still other humans in the castle.”

 

“No,” the clock shook his head. “Protocol must be followed! Maids and Ladies-in-Waiting do not receive guests! The task, of receiving guests” said Cogsworth, “falls to the male servants of the house.”

 

Everyone looked at Riku, who stepped back, raising his hands warily.

 

“Oh, no….No, no, no, no. No—”

 

He was caught off guard in the worst way, and a less forgiving side of Kairi wanted to take a photo of the moment, and send it to Sora. It wasn’t every day that their levelheaded friend turned bright red and was trying to get out of something with such fervor. For the sake of whatever dignity he wanted to maintain, she decided against it.

 

“Ah, but of course! My old livery will look so very dashing on your, Monsieur Riku!” Lumiere hopped onto a table and began to wave his arms about like an invisble measuring tape.

 

“I really don’t think this is—” As he glanced over at Kairi, he saw her mouth the words e _arn his trust_ and give a pointed look towards the direction of the Beast’s quarters. It was clear that whatever choice they would make would be the difference between the master of the house lying low or leaping into a conflict that neither he nor Belle were prepared for.

 

“Fine, let’s go.” He deadpanned to the candlelabra, who leapt with joy. The two of them disappeared over down a flight of stairs, darting into where the servants quarters had been when there were more humans in the castle.

 

“I think he’ll clean up nicely.” chirped the wardrobe next to Belle.

 

“Oh, absolutely…” Agreed the most bookish Princess of Heart.

 

Moments later, they were crowded by the bannister when Riku emerged, wearing a trim brown waistcoat, a neatly-pressed vest, shirtsleeves, freshly-polished leather shoes, and a decidedly uncomfortable expression. Someone, Cogsworth, most likely, had knotted a cravat around his neck and added a watch chain to his pockets. He looked the part of a butler or manservant, save for the unusual coloring of his hair.

 

“I didn’t pass the Mark of Mastery for this,” Riku rolled his eyes. 

 

“I’m sorry,” She managed, through giggles. “You look very handsome, if it’s any consolation…”

 

“Let’s just get this over with.”

 

“That’s the spirit.” Kairi beamed.

 

The doors creaked open, and the Keyblade wielder found himself face-to-face with the man that he had thought clueless about everything but his own vanity. Gaston looked alertedly at his surroundings, as did the villagers he had with him.

 

“Good afternoon….” Riku’s delivery was almost deadpan. “Sir.” He added, almost as if he had forgotten the polite thing to say. “The Master of the House is out riding on this beautiful afternoon—”

 

Thunder cracked against the exterior of the castle, and it began to rain. The man outside raised an eyebrow.

 

“—He can ride out in any weather. May I help you?” 

 

“Say, don’t I know your face from somewhere?” Gaston looked him over, and Riku couldn’t help but get the impression that he was being sized up for a fight.

 

“I received a posting here recently,” he answered coolly. “The Master of this castle is fair, but he doesn’t like his time being wasted.”

 

“I see,” the man muffed his chest out, miffed that someone was acting important without showing proper deference. “Well, I am here on a request from the father of a Miss Belle. Is she in residence?”

 

Riku thought about it for a moment. If he lied, it would raise suspicions. He glanced behind him, where Cogsworth and Lumiere were engaged in some sort of elaborate pantomime game from behind a pillar, likely prompting him of what to say next. Further on was a large, lumpy shape. He presumed that in addition to Kairi and Belle, the Beast was watching him. He racked his brain for things to say. At last, he saw Lumiere jump up and cross his arms, then pantomime writing something on air.

 

“She is here, but she’s asked for no visitors. Can I take a message?”

 

Gaston glared at him. “Very well. Her father requests for a visit from her within the month. He wishes to see his dear daughter, who he misses very much.Good Day.” With that, he set back on the path. Riku watched him go until the hoofbeats of his horse quieted. His shoulders slumped in visible relief. It probably wasn’t the last time this man would be causing problems for Belle and the Beast, but for today, he was gone.

 

Fighting Heartless was much easier than…whatever it was that he just had to do. Was this what Sora had to do all the time in order to earn others’ trust?

 

“I…I saw what you did just now.” The Beast said uneasily. “That was…very kind of you.” The words were likely ones that he wasn’t very comfortable with either.

 

“Oh, I was in the same boat once. Something like a curse. Couldn’t show my face. It’s not a problem.” Riku tugged at the neckcloth, which was beginning to chafe a little. “He looked like someone who wasn’t get quite judgmental about you. So I had to do something.” He met Kairi’s eyes with the slightest of smiles.

 

“Beast, Riku and I were looking for spots in the Castle where we haven’t checked yet. We’re looking for where the Heartless are being summoned.” Kairi walked down the stairs and faced their host. “Would you have any ideas where?”

 

The Master of the castle paused for a moment, pondering.

 

“I have a Greenhouse outside where I tend to my roses. No one else is allowed in, save the gardeners.” He beckoned them up the stairs of the foyer, and into the large expanse of a rounded, opulent ballroom. They quickly crossed over to the other side, and out onto a balcony.

 

Outside, thorns had ensnared a large part of the Beast’s gardens, and at the heart of the castle’s yards and grounds was a glass house that loomed like an emormous transparent cage. It glowed with a green sickly light, as if some source of energy hummed inside.

 

“That looks quite suspicious, doesn’t it?” Kairi leaned over the balcony,, feeling her heart tense. The letter was there. She was certain.

 

“It does,” agreed Riku. “And once I’ve safely gotten out of this coat, we’re going to go settle this.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tired: Writing an AU with your anime character as a butler
> 
> Wired: Writing an in-universe AU where your anime character has to pretend to be a butler for the most awkward ten minutes of his life


	15. Dangers and Dreams

The greenhouse had been warped by magic, transformed from the simple purpose that the Beast had used it for. The thorns that were threatening to breach the walls of the castle dominated the interior of the structure, and almost immediately, Riku coughed suddenly, muffling it with his forearm.

 

“It’s the scent of darkness…This place is brimming with it.” He explained, as Kairi looked at him curiously. “We need to be careful.”

 

Almost on cue, a vine bearing a round pod of some sort spiralled its way to life and burst open. Flecks of acid dropped onto the floor, singeing a few tiles in the process. It was then that she realized that several of the demonic-looking vines that filled the greenhouse had sprouted identical-looking pods.

 

“Of course,” Kairi flinched away from the plant, and looked forward to try to find something clearer. Whatever lurked within the reaches of the greenhouse was more powerful than anything they had faced within the castle.

 

For the sake of those that needed it as a refuge, though, the Castle could not be allowed to fall into the clutches of another. If the man that had visited the previous day was anything to go by, the villagers were on alert for any sign of abnormality, and were willing to use force if they saw something out of the ordinary.

 

The foe that she and Riku pursued, however, was right before them. Sitting on a throne of vines with an almost bored expression was the fairy Maleficent. She cradled her staff at the side of her throne, and regarded the two Keyblade wielders lazily. At her side, crouched below, was the Riku replica, wearing a smug smirk on his face.

 

“Looks like you’ve decided to accept our invitation,” he said.

 

“To what? See you get embarassed?” The Keyblade appeared in Riku’s hands as he raised it over his shoulder, as if at any moment he would lunge forward to strike both of them down in one attempt.

 

“Shame,” Maleficent’s mouth was set. “I thought you would have a little more gratitude towards the person that awakened your potential. But no matter. Anything given can be taken away. Or neutralized.”

 

She raised her staff and brought it down to the ground of the greenhouse with a reverbering thud. At once, a circle of green energy spiraled out, trapping everyone in its radius within the spell. They vanished, and reappeared in a vast chamber. As Kairi looked around, she widened her eyes to find themselves in the ballroom of the Castle.

 

“This will make for a much grander throne room, I think,” observed the sorceress. “Yes, I believe I can shape it into what I once had.” She laid a hand on a pillar of marble, her mind at work already.

 

“You’ve sunk to skulking around stealing other people’s castles?” Riku snapped. “And here I thought you had more ambition.”

 

“Oh, don’t you worry about that,” the replica sneered. “In fact, why don’t we give them a demonstration of what lies ahead?”

 

A beam of dark energy shot out from the menacing-looking blade in his hand. Maleficent fired off a purple-colored burst of magical flame from her staff. The energy congealed in the middle of the chamber, and expanded into a portal half the size of a Gummiship.

 

Out of it crawled a Shadow. Then Two. Then, spilling out, were dozens. As they stacked on top of one another, they began to spin and spiral. The ballroom soon brimmed with shadows alongside the two powerful foes that faced them.

 

“That’s a Demon Tower! The King and I fought one of these in the Realm of Darkness!” A spike of alarm was laced into Riku’s voice. So far, he had felt more or less confident in everything they had encountered in Beast’s Castle, from small shadows to their faster, more powerful counterparts. This enemy, however, was different. As the Demon Tower moved faster, their glowing yellow eyes flashed red with malice and menace. Watering cans and gardening tools were sucked into the abyss, shattering or bending in response to a force that was as unyielding as darkness itself. 

 

And yet, Riku was unafraid.

 

“Nice try, but you’ve missed one thing,” he said. “This isn’t the Realm of Darkness.”

 

The keyblade in his hands shifted to one of twisted black metal that looked forged from darkness itself. He reached out withhis free hand. “Let’s thin this playing field out right now.” He looked towards her. “Do you know what to do, Kairi?”

 

“I think so, Riku.” The keychain on Kairi’s keyblade changed, too, to one of silver so bright it gleamed with an inner light of its own. She readied Oathkeeper, and felt Riku grasp her forearm.Breathing deep, Kairi prepared to go. Merlin had said that out of the different variations of the Keyblade, Oathkeeper and Oblivion had a connection that could be devastating when paired.

 

There was a sudden pull at her side, and Kairi realized that she was spinning towards the Demon Tower, cutting through the Shadows that composed it at rapid-fire speed. She had been flung out towards the Heartless like the first bolt of lightning of a summer storm. Riku had followed suit, teleporting in a blur of purple energy, and cutting across the base of the Demon Tower with a circular strike. The attacks of the two keyblades crossed, and a searing blade of heat crackled to life and slashed at the Shadow Heartless that composed the monstrous entity before them.

 

Turning, Kairi struck again, cutting the Tower further down to size. With every attack of the Keyblade, more Heartless fell away, either dissolving into darkness or scurrying back into the rapidly shrinking portal.

 

“Impressive,” said the Replica, who leapt from his perch. The detached smile on his face was gone. In his eyes, green like Riku’s but without any of the laughter or steadiness of her friend, was rage in its rawest form. Was this what happened when someone’s heart lacked the most basic connections to kindness?

 

Kairi had little time to ponder as something sharp and invisible sliced from ceiling to floor. She dodged, but not easily, and looked at Riku, who had tested whatever magical spell had been cast with a full-strength Keyblade strike. But shining, semi-invisible barrier of magic that separated them wouldn’t give. Looking over at the other side of the ballroom, Kairi readied her own weapon, and found herself face-to-face with the witch that had so feared by the Princesses of Heart from the very beginning.

 

When Maleficent wanted something, she was ruthless until she got it. And from the look of things, what she wanted to do was to see Kairi destroyed.

 

= = =

“How do you think that I learned of the power that sleeps within hearts like yours?” asked the dark fairy. “Or of your friend’s?” They turned to look at the clash between Riku and his copy, two blurs of silver and purple that occasionally materialized into a more clear image.

 

Kairi knocked away two more bolts of black-and-green energy, and blocked a third that meant to hit her directly.

 

“How should I know, creep?” She snapped. Rage filled her voice, knowing that the witch that loomed before her was responsible for the blank space in her memory, and for the fears of every Princess of Heart that had been so cruelly torn from her world, from curious Alice to dreaming Cinderella to resolute Jasmine. “You keep sneaking out of the shadows to take what’s not yours to take.”

 

Ignoring her, Maleficent continued. “A Princess, my child. Everything in the rules of the world I came from starts with a Princess.” She leered at Kairi as she teleported away from an icy Blizzara spell hurled her way. “And as this journey of yours continues, I wonder if you truly know how much peril a heart like yours will draw. The Masters before you didn’t,” taunted Maleficent.

 

“What do you mean?!”

 

“I have seen countless fools take up the Keyblade.” Kairi jumped out of the way of a lightning strike as she struggled to get the words of the witch’s rant. “Some have triumphed against me, only to fall into Darkness chasing after the impossible.”

 

The staff cracked against the ground once more, and an earthquake shook the ballroom. Kairi watched as both Rikus were unsteady on their feat. The real one had leapt down from a pillar to try to slam an attack down on the other one, and rolled out of the way of a nasty-looking Firaga spell coated in darkness. Suddenly, she found herself face-to-face with Maleficent once more, who neared and cackled, chanting an incantation that pulled at something far more sinister than the rules of magic that anyone on the side of light followed. The wave of energy created a gust of wind that threw Kairi across the room, cleanly striking a pillar.

 

She felt the keyblade near her, and heard the shine of a magic spell flaring to life.Pain flared at the base of Kairi’s head as slid down from the pillar with a short grunt of pain. Her breath slowed, and she held onto consciousness for a few moments.

 

Then, the world went black.

 

= =

 

The woods were still and silent, and the trees around her looked like they had stood for quite some time without even the slightest breeze touching them. Instinctively, Kairi touched the hem of her hoodie, feeling the protective magic woven into the fabric ripple with recognition slightly, almost as if the clothes had come home after a long journey away. There was something familiar about the short, plump woman, or the magic that she carried within her.

 

“What do you find most beautiful?” Asked the red fairy.

 

Kairi thought about the question for a few moments. Despite the calmness that the glade emanated, she couldn’t help but think that there was somewhere she had to be. Somewhere important.

 

“Sunsets,” she answered, liking all the moments when she caught the split second the sun dipped over the horizon on the Islands. It was a sight that few worlds had ever replicated.

 

The fairy vanished, and the glade changed into the halls of a beautiful, ornate castle. Rich tapestries covered the walls, and a fairy draped in green looked towards her, kindly and gentle where the first one was imposing.

 

“What is your favorite part of a song, dear?”

 

“When I can recognize something I love in it,” Kairi answered. This question wasn’t one she thought about for very long. She loved things that repeated and were the results of things she could piece together. That was what had been so much fun about writing the letters that she hadn’t meant to send. And so far, it had been a wonder to find people that needed them.

 

The green fairy nodded, and disappeared as well. Finally, the castle, too, vanished, and Kairi found herself in a darkened glade, where the trees were gnarled and worn. She realized at last that there was Maleficent looming near her. That was the reason she was somewhere else, and the pain in her head throbbed. She looked down, and saw that a third fairy stood in the clearing. The blue-clad fairy stood shorter than the other two, and watched Kairi with a sense of alertness that the other two lacked.

 

“My dear Kairi, it’s wonderful to meet you. So you decided on pink. I had hoped dearly that you wanted a lovely blue frock,” the fairy tut-tutted.

 

“Your work on this dress was lovely, all the same.” Kairi smiled, hoping that the memory of the encounter would be hers to keep. She presumed that this was the fairy to add the round little ears to the hood at the back. “So, are you… like the others…?”

 

“I’ve a question for you, too, even if you did choose pink. What will you do to survive something devastating?”

 

The answer to the third question felt lodged inside her, in a place that she didn’t want anyone to hear. Little by little, worry had built up as Kairi realized that the costs that the Organization, Maleficent, and those that would do her friends harm could levy. How the growing, precious connection she had to Sora could be one that cost both him and her everything.

 

“I don’t believe in lost causes,” Kairi answered at last, feeling more and more grounded as each word left her. “Not until the bitter end.”

 

In response, the fairy smiled, and flicked her wrist. The wand in her hands sparkled brightly, as she pointed it at Kairi. The red and green fairies reappeared as well, and as their spells curled around her, Kairi felt the pain in her skull ebb and her nerves calm. She was focused, ready, and brave enough.

 

When she awoke, she found herself in the shadow of a colossal black dragon. Riku was there, too, and protecting himself behind a pillar, which deflected a fiery blast. Whatever had happened, he had broken through the barrier. The replica was nowhere to be seen. But the monster that remained reminded them of her presence, from her thundering steps to the swing of her powerful tail that threatened to knock Kairi right back to the dream realm that she had just exited.

 

“He’s escaped. But we’ve still got a problem on our hands.” Riku grit his teeth, shifting the barrier to move forward a little. “Whatever he’s done, she’s stronger now than before.” He deflected a fireball,

 

“That’s fine,” Kairi grinned. “Because you’re stronger than before, too. Cmon’, Keyblade Master, I’ll give you a boost up.”

 

She summoned her Keyblade, and readied the spell that was winding its way through her mind, fresh from the blessing she had just received. A shining, rounded barrier appeared around her. Riku leapt up onto it, and Kairi pushed upwards with all her strength, launching him at the dragon. Riku leapt up, a gleam in his eyes as he drove the keyblade into Maleficent’s back. Screeching in pain, her head flopped down to the floor, where Kairi ran across the ballroom to meet the perfect opportunity for an attack. The Oathkeeper cut across the dragon’s head, and, with one last deafening shriek, Maleficent was no more than a mass of darkness, dissolving off into the night.

 

“She doesn’t die easily,” Riku said bitterly. “And with the looming darkness, who’s to say she won’t come back?”

 

“Even if she does,” Kairi felt her heartbeat thundering as she closed the windows to the now-quiet greenhouse, “I think she’ll probably leave this world alone.”Questions remained, circling around her and grabbing her attention like dozens of bees buzzing about. She wanted answers to everything. But for now, this was enough, and she was enough to face whatever had been thrown at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based this combo attack off of ice dancing. Sora’s team-up with Kairi was a beach volleyball move, so it felt right to do something wintery as a foil to it for the adventure arc Riku was in.
> 
> The Fairies have granted Kairi the Barrier ability hmmmMMmm I wonder what that means


	16. Dawn-bound path

 

_Dear Riku:_

 

_These days you always seem to be racing ahead, trying to find the way forward. It’s an incredibly brave thing to do, to step out into the unknown. I don’t think I found the courage to do that until much later._

 

_Today, at the beginning of training, Merlin asked us what made a heart strong. I thought about all the ways that you and Sora needed to find strength through the darkest hours, when you were lost without a certain path back home. And yet, you found your way back. That’s what matters._

 

_Was it the ability to tough things out? Was it hope against the most hopeless of situations? For you, difficult or painful memories weren’t something to ignore, but to navigate through like the stormiest of waves._

 

_Well, there’s a storm coming now, but I think we’re going to be ready when it comes down to it._

 

_Until then,_

_Kairi_

 

Riku folded up the letter and looked out over the silent hallway where he stood, leaning against the wrapped-up machine that they would move out from the castle the next morning. Its message wasn’t very complicated, but it brought to mind the choice he had made in Hollow Bastion, to fight against Ansem with the last of his strength. That was the first of many sacrifices he’d made, and the first choice that Riku was proud of since he’d left the islands. He had made the choice to keep that story, regardless of whether it was easier to forget the pain or not.

 

It was just like Kairi to really dwell on the past in that precise way that helped him move forward. She always tried to see the best in the worst of circumstances. When he _looked_ the part of the worst of their circumstances. It was no wonder that Namine, who was just as perceptive and quick, had been the Nobody born of her heart.

 

He hadn’t expected it to be so difficult to see the Beast again. But Riku was never someone who would put himself into situations where he would face people that were difficult again. There was the King, there was Sora, and there was Kairi. That was about it in terms of who he really needed to talk to. Off in the distance, away from people he had hurt, he could figure out something new in peace.

 

“So,” a low grumbling voice rumbled from downstairs. “You’re finally getting out of here tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah. We’re done here, and you seem like a guy that needs his space.” Riku managed to crack a slight grin as he approached the Beast, who was in the downstairs parlor. Even late at night, he had a fire crackling merrily in the hearth when Riku entered and took a seat in the chair across from the Castle’s Master. “I have to say, though, I didn’t expect you to get scared of some fake-tough guy singing in a bar.”

 

“It’s not about me,” the Beast shook his head. His brow furrowed, as if it took a few moments for him to settle on just what to say. It was clear that even though no one could best Gaston at a number of things, one-on-one combat in a fair fight with the Castle’s master wasn’t something the hunter could win. “It’s about Belle. And about them.”

 

At first, Riku couldn’t tell just what he was talking about. But then, he noticed. Over by the mantelpiece were Lumiere and Cogsworth, who were dozing and inanimate, save for the occasional snore.

 

“Ah, so you’re like me.” Riku nodded. “You talk a tough game, but when it comes down to it, they’re people you would fight to protect. Funny how we’ve landed on the same side.“

 

“Not easily,” agreed the Beast.

 

The claws and the Darkblade that had been at odds once were nowhere to be seen. Just the dead of night and two seated, stubborn people that had somehow figured out something of a truce. If that was something that could be done, thought Riku, then whatever curse the Beast was under was just a matter of time, too.

 

= =

 

Even as dawn quietly crept over the castle, a fog blanketed what little sunlight that it received. Below the staircase where she sat waiting for Riku, she could hear the Beast lumbering about in his library. Perhaps he was uncertain as to what to make of his guests right before they were set to depart the world.

 

“That was so cool!” Chip cheered. “You looked like— like two knights right out of the stories Mama tells me before bedtime!” The little cup couldn’t stop bouncing up and down in the palm of Kairi’s hand. “She said I wasn’t allowed to watch, but I saw it through the door.” He continued to talk excitedly.

 

“We had something very important to protect, Chip.” Kairi said, still feeling a bit uneasy but reluctant to let it show too much.“And that’s your home.”

 

The teacup nodded, and continued to chatter excitedly. “Sora stopped a big, mean heartless in the ballroom, too. And, and, he fought a man that threw cyclones at him!”

 

At the last bit of overexcited exclamations, Mrs. Potts tut-tutted at her rambunctious son, and took him off to another chamber with what sounded like the beginnings of a lecture.

 

“Belle, it sounds like you’ve been through a lot.” As the other Princess of Heart Approached and took a seat besides them, Kairi turned to face her with a look of concern. If cyclones and giant Heartless plagued the castle regularly, then they must have followed whoever wielded the Keyblade, or whatever darkness lurked within the different worlds.

 

“I have to wonder if we shouldn’t have interrupted your lives like this….” She frowned.

 

“Don’t worry about it. You had a very good reason,” Belle shook her head. “It was for the sake of someone you cared about, wasn’t it? That this machine was collecting data about my heart.”

 

That had been the plan, and now it was up to Ienzo to do what he could to piece Namine back together in some form or another. “Yes. We’re hoping to help someone very precious to us.”

 

“My father wanted to do the same thing,” She closed her eyes. “To make machines that made things easier for the people he cared about.” At the thought of some of the contraptions, Belle wrinkled her nose. “Well, they didn’t always work, but he really did want the people in our village to like what he made. Even if they did nothing but laugh at him…” A wistful, pained look crossed her face as she looked out past the castle gates. “Hmm, maybe I should make a visit just to check…”

 

Kairi knew that it was clear that Belle was a worrier by nature. She was, too, if she was truly honest with herself. What she would do with that worry, though, was far less clear of a choice.

 

“You’re not happy with something,” Kairi drummed at the controls at the ship sailed through space later on. “Do you know how I can tell?” They were still a few hours away from Radiant Garden, and space stretched onwards for what seemed like forever.

 

“How?”

 

“You get this expression on your face that you’d rather chew off your own arm then talk about something you’re avoiding.,” she laughed. “It’s super serious, but also kind of funny-looking.”

 

“Well, if the Keyblade thing doesn’t work out, I could go to kids’ parties and make weird faces for a living,” Riku shrugged. “Always have to keep my options open.” He paused, then shook his head. “ Wait, no, Sora’d be better at it than me. That plan’s a no-go, then…”

 

They swerved past a meteor, and a few moments passed. It was always awkward, to know when there was a secret or a difficult truth hiding beneath the surface of something. Kairi hadn’t started her journey wanting to keep things from others, but the worlds seemed to unearth memories to her. Some bore evidence of pain, like the girl that clearly had some place within Axel’s memories, and likely Roxas’ as well. Others tested her like nothing before. She rubbed at the base of her head, which still smarted from where Maleficent had flung her into the wall like a sack of flour.

 

“We’re not the only people out there trying to get stronger. How do you cope with that?” She asked. It had been evident during their clash with the braggart and the dragon at his side. More likely than not, Riku was battling foes far stronger than that in the realm of darkness, as well. 

 

“Training,” Riku answered. He ticked off fingers as he counted ideas off.“Talking to the King. Checking in on you and Sora through this,” he held up the Gummiphone for a moment.“Letting go of what I don’t get right right away.”

 

At that, his countenence seemed to distance itself a little more, and Kairi felt her hunch confirmed. They had an opening to attack the Riku Replica under the Organization’s control, and he had gotten away somewhere. Still, he had a good point. It wasn’t all bad that they had visited Beast’s Castle, if the result was that Namine would return, and that Belle and the Beast had one less sorceress to worry about.

 

Up across space, the light of Radiant Garden was getting clearer and clearer.

 

“Excited to finally see Namine again?”

 

“I can feel certain memories of her in my heart. And Axel’s told me a lot about her. But if I’m right, I think we’ll have a lot to talk about when she’s back for good.” Kairi felt her heart lighten at where they were going.

 

As they landed the ship, her heart gave a happy little skip at the prospects of a new beginning that was a long time coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kind of quiet chapter is the end of this arc! Sora and Axel are coming back next chapter. 
> 
> My younger sibling kept referring to character deaths in KH3 as ‘yeeted off this mortal coil’ and I feel more out of touch with the youth than ever


	17. Interlude: Memory-Keeper's Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slapped a “KH3 spoilers tag” but that is going to be a tad more relevant this chapter! This is a heads-up!!

 

 

While she kept her eyes out onto the view into the canyon that Radiant Garden’s castle overlooked, Kairi snuck a glance over at Sora. Somewhere close by, Riku was strategizing with the King for another attempt at finding Master Aqua. Sometime shortly, she and Axel would meet with Merlin. But witheveryine busy, it was nice to sit still for a while.

 

Worry gripped her thoughts suddenly, and though they were sitting a few feet apart, she felt as if a chasm had opened up suddenly and cracked the ground between them apart. He wasn’t hiding something, but there was a distance between where he was and where they were, at least where his heart was concerned.

 

The last time Sora had uploaded a photo, he was wearing a cheerful pirate’s hat, coat, and boots, and was standing proudly at the wheel of a ship, seemingly in the middle of spinning it as fast as the mechanism would go. It read: ‘The King used to pilot a steamship in the old days. Think I can do better??’

 

That was the last dispatch, and, given that Sora was still alive and looked uninjured, Kairi could only conclude that he didn’t steer the ship _too_ badly. But something certainly had to have happened to make him anything other than a chatterbox about piracy and the high seas. And as much as the know-it-all in her wanted to comment like a smart-aleck that piracy wasn’t as fun as he and Riku had thought it would be while playacting as children, her sensible side decided it wasn’t the time. This was something far deeper than confronting anything that was run-of-the-mill dangerous. 

 

“What happened out in the last world you went to?” She asked quietly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Sora drew his knees up and hugged them to his chest. He was exhausted, from the looks of it“Friends of mine got torn apart. Pretty much for good. A curse of ten years at sea, with only one day on land together…” His eyes narrowed, speaking silently of frustration and sadness all at once “And I couldn’t stop that from happening, no matter what.” She knew that he had meant it, and had fought hard to try to protect whoever he had befriended in that world. But they were in an age where powerful forces, from witches to Nobodies to entities with even stronger magic were at play. The Keyblade lent great power, but it did not guarantee immunity. Not by a long shot.

 

“I can’t help but think…there was a part of the Mark of Mastery test where I almost got lost…so lost, that I couldn’t come back to you. A-and Riku, too, of course,” Sora stammered out. “He was able to find me, but there’s a chance that could happen again. And then what?”

 

And on the surface, there was nothing but confidence to the way that Sora could jet off into worlds, all but certain that he could make people smile and vanquish monsters. But it was hard to be the one person that could shoulder every single burden. But Sora didn’t have to be that one person.

 

“There’s a chance…what could happen again?” There was a hitch in her breath as Kairi took the question in. It sunk into her heart like series of choices she wasn’t prepared to make on a path that would lead her through something unbearably painful. She knew exactly what it was that could happen, and cursed herself that perceptiveness could cut a short path towards hurt as well as the clues that had helped her along the journey. Despite herself, Kairi imagined something ominous that loomed over them, threatening to take Sora away, and, just as he said, pretty much for good.

 

“Don’t worry about it too much,” was all he said. Kairi felt his hand on her shoulder and felt herself pulled against him quickly, scattering everything she worried about. It was a warmth that lingered even as Sora stepped away once more.“I’m not going anywhere, Kairi. That’s a promise that I intend to keep.”

 

Suddenly, she wanted very much to have a letter. Not the letter, but something that could stay with him, even if they were torn apart and scattered to the winds or shut out into different worlds. Where was that dratted envelope, if it wasn’t anywhere Sora had been journeying?

 

“I’ve been keeping this safe, by the way.” Kairi held out the Wayfinder, holding the light little charm up so that the shard of sea-glass caught the rays of the setting sun. “It reminds me of you. And even if you disappear, Sora, I’ll just have to set out and find you. Even if it takes ten years at sea.” And she meant every word of it. Suddenly, her certainty shortened whatever distance between them. Even if something unknowably terrible shattered Sora into a million pieces, she wanted to try to do the work to put them back together. Of that, she was certain.

 

“Haha, you know where to go, and you always have a plan. Just like before.” He rubbed at the back of his head. “Well, even if that wasn’t exactly how any of us left the Islands,” Sora concluded, laughing softly. It made sense that he was able to travel so far in a ship powered by a laugh like that.

 

“Yeah, and you guys made fun of me for it. ‘Are we going to survive off fish and mushrooms?’ So….that turned out to make sense in the long run, but still. _You_ wanted to bring a bunch of candy bars out to sea.” Kairi remembered that even at the time, she had balked at the idea of surviving off nothing but sugary chocolate. In a way, it was probably better that they had all been swept off elsewhere.

 

Someone behind them cleared his throat impatiently. “As fascinating as the provisions of your childhood vacation are, I wanted to inform you that we’ve made tremendous progress with Namine.” Ienzo looked upon them with amusement. “Are you ready?” He turned to Kairi, who nodded.

 

“I think I’ve been ready to see her again for a while. Don’t you think so, Sora?”

 

= =

 

The slight blonde girl lay still, nestled within a sealed, clear pod. To the casual observer, she was asleep. Axel knew that for one year, Sora had been inside something that looked like it, while he had to run about making choices that he’d never signed up for. That Roxas hadn’t signed up for, either.

 

The fact that something else was missing from the picture had been disturbing. He had cleared his head, at times, by trying to remember who the black-haired girl was. Merlin had kept her asleep, weaving magic into the initial spell that Kairi had cast. As she stayed under the protection of the Radiant Garden Restoration society, he traveled about and trained, albeit uneasily. Kairi had been off on a mission somewhere to find bits of data that would restore Namine. Then, the girl would get her memories back.

 

There were no guarantee that memories returned would be good. Axel knew that clearly, both from the weight of what had been done to Sora and by the unnerving weight of the heart settled in his own body. A past that he hadn’t remembered in Radiant Garden itself wove back into place, and in the furthest reaches, there was a chance meeting with a boy that looked identical to Roxas.

 

It was impossible to get memorized, and he knew it.

 

As a small ball of light floated from Kairi to Namine, Axel looked towards the busy scientists of Radiant Garden, with Ienzo calling out instructions and getting readings. He had been the youngest of Ansem’s apprentices, but now took the helm.

 

What else had changed irreversibly? Would what they found about the girl sleeping within Merlin’s House from his past change, as well?

 

“I don’t think I’m going to like the answers that we’re going to find,” he muttered. And like clockwork, the doubt was picked up by the annoyingly observant girl that was his training partner. But if she noticed anything in the comment, she didn’t say anything, and merely gave a small nod. There was a nervousness about Kairi, and Axel realized why she had understood why he felt apprehensive about the memory-manipulating girl. She, too, was waiting for answers to questions that Namine’s heart had asked of her.

 

At last, Namine’s eyes fluttered open, staring back at the room full of people that had been waiting for her. Though the girl looked the part of someone vulnerable, the moment she awoke, the sharp expression in her gaze was immediate as the pod slid open with a hiss.

 

“Hello again, Kairi. Sora. Axel. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

 

= =

 

“I remember her,” Namine closed her eyes for a moment as her brow furrowed, as if something invisible and sharp had struck her. She tensed as she approached the sleeping girl. “She was someone that had to disappear in order for Sora to wake up. So no matter how much who got hurt…” Her gaze lingered on Axel for a long moment. “…Xion had to disappear. Those were the rules, as it were.”

 

“No exceptions?” Kairi asked.

 

“Not at the time, no. But…” Namine flipped open to a blank page on the sketchpad. “Something’s changed since I’ve seen her last. Since I’ve seen any of you.”

 

“I can explain that!” piped up a little voice near Sora. From inside the hood of his coat jumped a tiny but smartly dressed cricket. “It’s all because of a change in the journal that changed. The data within it merged with the new memories Sora created, and we sorted out different inconsistencies,” explained the chronicler.

 

“I…don’t get it.” Sora frowned. “Honestly, there’s still a lot I’m not remembering. And we’ve been running into Organization members who _say_ they know me, but…”

 

Axel grinned. “If you need any insider information, you know you’ve got a double-agent.”

 

“Two, if we count her.” Kairi gestured towards the girl. “So Namine, what now?”

 

In response, her Nobody clasped her hands together in thought, and reached for a crayon. She wrote something down, and then crossed it out, crumpling the paper and tossing it away. Beginning again, she traced out a circle.

 

“First, we’ll need to take a look into her heart…”

 

= =

 

Everything was a blur of black coated figures, circling her overhead like a swarm of vultures. She remembered, and then she didn’t. She could fight and had purpose, until that time ran out. Then, she woke up.

 

“Another nightmare about them…” Xion pulled the sheets back, and yawned.

 

Fortunately, there was the day ahead to distract her. She looked out the window and overthe familiar skyline of Twilight Town, then got out of bed to search around the house for something to eat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You cannot tell me that the first thing Sora would do upon getting a boat is not going to be: attempt to recreate the little thing where Mickey spins the wheel in Steamboat willie/the disney logo thing at the beginning of movies 
> 
> ~ ~ Guess who’s getting the next one of Kairi’s letters ~ ~


	18. Remembrance and Revival

The coat was too large for Xion, who was smaller and slighter than the other Nobodies of the Organization.It was weighted at the ends so that it would not flap about in worlds with strong currents, but slowed her down when she really wanted to bolt off somewhere or jump to the side to dodge an attack. Someone who wasn’t expected to be there forever didn’t need something that fit.

 

As she reluctantly slipped her arms into its sleeves and shrugged into it, Xion knew that she was one step closer to resembling the shadowy figures, various yet unified, that kept lurking in wait somewhere outside of the house.

 

Xion knew she couldn’t afford to be too picky, because there was a chill in the morning air.

 

Her name, the Keyblade and the badly-fitted coat were all that she was really able to keep for herself. For some time, her mind had been bound to the whims of the Organization, but for now, it floated somewhere in and out of existence. And her heart, as brief as it blinked into existence, had been spirited off to somewhere else entirely.

 

Despite everything, it felt wrong to go out into the world without the coat over her shoulders and the Keyblade in her hand.

 

With tentative steps, Xion descended the steps of the apartment’s exterior. All around her, the ordinary landscape of Twilight Town shifted, piece by piece.The land itself twisted at the whims of something unknown and distant. She saw the features of the buildings, shops and streets around her shimmer in enormous, square panes of light. Slabs of white columns, walls and even chunks of hallways and arches grew out of Twilight Town’s buildings like fungi or moss that had gradually choked out and covered the trees of a dying forest. 

 

Some time ago, though Xion couldn’t say when, she had been trudging along a passageway with someone else in the Organization. She was given ordered and started to carry them out against another girl with and a tall, gangly man that struck her as familiar, so familiar that his name was almost within reach. Xion had wanted to badly to say something, despite the fact that went against orders.The girl, whose eyes and face looked a little like hers raised her Keyblade and cast a spell at her. After that, Xion’s recollections halted, and there was nothing but dreams and the town she now wandered through.

 

“What am I missing?” She said, watching spiky white fixtures crash out of another wall. As the pieces of the town shifted, they almost seemed to do battle with one another, colliding in faultlines of golden-brown brick and white, spotless marble.

 

“I’m close, but still far away from where I would like to be…” Xion concluded.

 

Holding her hand to her chest to still her breathing, she looked at the chain-link fence separating out a small area of the alleyway. Then, Xion continued to climb the hill up to the Bell Tower that stood at the edge of the town. A piece of her memory slid into place, telling her that something warm and familiar resonated at the top of the tower. The pull towards that place wasn’t an answer, but it was enough of a hunch to go on.

 

= = =

 

Namine gently closed the cover of the sketchbook, regarding the sleeping girl before them with a unreadable expression. She had been asked to do many things with memory: taking them apart, putting them back together, but the time spent within someone’s mind was never something easy to do.

 

“She’s trapped temporarily in a dream that combines Twilight Town and the World that Never Was,” she explained to Kairi, who was listening intently. “Xion’s directives programmed back in by the Organization are fighting with the original memories of the vessel.”

 

“Is there any way for us to talk to her?” Kairi asked. “Axel seems to recognize her, even if he doesn’t know who she is, for certain…”

 

The Nobody thought about the options for a second, considering them like the colors she would select from a box of pastels.

 

“There’s something in there…an object? A piece of paper? I’m not sure where it came from.” Namine paused, as a woman approached them. Aerith, if her recollections about Sora’s memories were right. And they usually were.

 

“Is my letter going to be used to hurt her?” Kairi’s eyes widened at the mention of it. The letters she had sent out certainly had a mind of their own, if one had somehow ended up in the memories of an unconscious Nobody. Almost certainly, it was the one that the Riku Replica had run off to.

 

“If anything, I would see if it catches Xion’s attention, and build out from there. But for that to happen, we’d have to wait a little while.” Namine worried the edge of the sketchbook with her thumb, and set it aside. 

 

“Yes, I think it’s time that the two of you took a break. Namine’s been working ever since she woke up.” The woman’s voice was kind, but had a commanding tone to it that balanced gentleness and authority. Kairi had seen her guide friends and allies towards the reconstruction of Radiant Garden. In her hands were two bowls of soup, which she handed off to the two girls.

 

“I told Cid not to put anything too strongly flavored in it. We don’t typically get guests in the way we met you. But Sora wasn’t a usual arrival, either, when we first met him.” Aerith beamed. 

 

“In Traverse Town,” Namine nodded, then seemed to shrink back into herself, looking away from the older woman. “Wait, I’m sorry, that’s…”

 

“Told ya she’s bullying the new kid already,” muttered someone new, albeit not an unfriendly one. A stout, blond-haired man strode into the room, and removed the toothpick from his mouth as he strode in with Squall Leonhart, who led the restoration society of the town.

 

“Radiant Garden intel unit: population Aerith, and some soup. Whew!” At the comment, Aerith shot him a look that was icy, but veiled in a cheery warmth.

 

“It’s certainly gotten very lively around here all of a sudden,” Kairi grinned. “But let me introduce you, so we can eat. Everyone, this is Namine. She saved me from the Organization, at a time when I wasn’t sure I could escape.”

 

At first taste of the soup, Namine’s face brightened, which brought a satisfied smirk to Cid’s face, seeing someone admire his handiwork. Aerith nodded approvingly. Of course it made sense that the people who took in others from worlds and fates so different from theirs would be so hospitable. It had been a very long time since someone was so warm, and right at the center of it was the heart of the girl from where she came.

 

But there was still work to do, Namine thought, as she looked back at Xion’s form. In order to wake her onnce more with the pieces of her heart in the right place, would need to find the pieces and, more importantly, find the will within Xion to take the necessary steps back towards the light.

 

= = =

 

Xion’s memories of Riku, blindfolded and showing a bit of kindness to her at a crossroads, came back as she neared the top of the tower. He was wise beyond his years, she had thought. For someone that had suffered so much in such a short amount of time, he was calm. At that point, she hadn’t yet felt the brunt of what would happen to her. Reapproaching him was finding a kindred spirit.

 

“Hey,” he gave a wave, and uncrossed his arms. He had been perched there for some time, and was waiting for her. “It’s been a while.”

 

In one of his hands he held a light-blue envelope, which he twirled about in an almost lazy fashion.

 

“What are you doing here? This town is empty…” Xion looked around, and the plaza, streets, and distant corners of the town were, as she had seen, devoid of people.

 

“I’ve traveled into the realm of darkness, Xion. And I’d travel to any other place to find someone I cared about.” That was true, from what she had learned about Riku, and just what he was willing to sacrifice to help Sora wake up. It had meant, of course, that she had to disappear. But as they met once again, there was no judgment in his mannerisms, and he listened intently for her reply.

 

“I…didn’t think anyone cared about me,” Her voice caught a bit as she admitted what she had thought to be obvious. Care wasn’t in the words that the Organization or anyone affiliated with it had used for her. And now, untethered from them, she was somewhere truly lost.

 

“That’s not true. You know the choices you had to make,” Riku replied gently. She could feel that he was impatient, despite the fact that his face remained blindfolded. “And the cost of what would happen if you resurfaced. That’s a brave thing to do.”

 

It was strange, to talk like this without the punctuation of something to break silences, like the crisp taste of an ice-cream bar.

 

“I can help you find your way back, Xion. What do you say?” Riku asked. He held up the envelope, suggesting that it held some kind of answers.

 

“All you would have to do is follow me. Do you trust me?” He held out his hand, all sincereness and earnestness, and yet…

 

Riku didn’t ask anything of her, even on the verge of non-existence. This recollection came to Xion suddenly. Even when it came at the cost of keeping Sora’s memories locked away for longer, he wanted her to make the decision for herself. But now, he was back again, and almost demanding something of her.

 

Without another word, Xion hopped down the expanse of the tower, using as footholds the slabs of white fortress that shifted into being. She landed at the foot of the building, and took a deep breath. Opposite her was Riku, whose facade of a smile had lengthened into a wolfish grin.

 

Of one thing she was certain. This was not the same boy.

 

She had to take the envelope from his hands, no matter what, and possibly by force. Once before, Xion was backed into a corner and essentially had no choice but to give up, and give in. She would not do so easily given another opportunity. Summoning the Keyblade, she shot a Thundaga spell at the side of the tower, knocking Riku off his descent.

 

His blindfold fell away, revealing not Riku’s green-blue eyes, but monstrous ones of yellow that resembled those of Xemnas, Lord of the Organization. It was at that moment that Xion knew she had made the right choice to fight.

 

“Looks like you’re going to have to come back the hard way,” grinned the copy of Riku. “Fine by me.” At once, he lunged at her.

 

A burst of a Firaga spell ripped through the square, and the Riku replica jumped back with an angry snarl, clutching his weapon arm. The darkblade at his side fell away with a resounding clang against the Bell Tower square’s brick walkway.

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t get me memorized.” There was mock hurt in the tall, spiky-haired man’s expression as he stepped out from a nearby tunnel. In his hands was a keyblade forged from fire itself, which, in a burst of sparks, shifted into two bladed chakrams that spun out at his side. He was a part of what had given her hope that there was more than the Organization. Him, and another missing part of her story were what kept her apart from being something of the void of the Nobody or the mindless, rote existence of a mere puppet.

 

“Axel?” The name, and memories of friendship tied to it, sudden and sharp, flooded back like a stunning strike square in the shoulderblades. But so too did memories of questioning where his allegience truly were placed. Was he loyal to Roxas and her, or was he not. In the end, Xion was certain that his heart, if it existed, was in the right place. She now hoped against hope that it stayed that way.

 

“Different times, same story, Xion,” Axel grinned. “I think it’s time we brought you back.”

 

“To the Organization?” She asked, still wary.

 

“No,” he answered. “To wherever you want to go next.” They faced down the imposter-Riku together, focusing on the strange little envelope that had a small, fragile chance to take Xion to whatever destiny awaited her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the arc that has slightly more Xion! This will probably last another chapter 
> 
> On average a good 80% of KH dialogue sounds like people reading greeting cards to each other, but man oh man, when it lands something that actually emotionally gets you…here comes the feels?????? 
> 
> Riku talking to Xion when she made the decision to get turbo-fridged until KH3 was one of those moments.


	19. Impossible Boy, Impossible Girl

The envelope was fragile, but held possibilities that Xion had always been too afraid to think about. At every turn, the Organization had always shut the doors to being anything more than a ward under their watch. That was the rule, there was never a shortage of tricks they could pull to enforce them.

 

But she had to try now. It was a note from someone she had never met, in the hands of someone who wanted to drag her back to days of rote obedience. And giving up and resigning herself to that fate was a fate worse than disappearing once more. 

 

Fighting was a series of motions that only came back to Xion, piece by piece. She felt the wicked-looking blade slash back, sending out painful coils of dark energy that burned on contact. Riku was never easy to fight, whether it was him or whatever copy of him the Organization had managed to concoct. He moved fast, and had a relentlessness that was foreboding even at rest.

 

“You think you’re the only one that’s ever gotten _hurt_? Or pushed around? How precious,” snarled Riku— or whoever the boy was, really. He raised the wicked-looking blade over his head, before warping into the shadows and disappearing. Suddenly, he appeared before Axel and struck from above. The bat-winged Soul Eater clashed against a chakram in a burst of fiery-orange sparks.

 

“Seriously, is it going to be this line of doom-and-gloom nonsense, from here on out?” Axel leapt back. “Come up with something better, unless you’re trying to bore us to death.” This was him at his most confident, when he knew their objectives in a world and would cut through anyone he needed to to finish a mission. He brought the fiery blades together, sending a fireball spiraling in from the sky towards his foe. As the attack connected, the blades disappeared, leaving a keyblade in his hands once more.

 

Xion had never imagined that Axel could wield the weapon so revered by the Organization for its ability to collect hearts. For so long, she and Roxas had been expected to do the brunt of that work.

 

But that was the past, and this was a new age of impossible things. Even though something sinister had brought her back, a force unknowable had broken her out from whatever she was meant to do.

 

Her limbs felt light as she leapt upwards, striking Riku at speeds far faster than she could imagine. A beam of energy burst out of the ground in a searing column, sending him flying. 

 

“Impossible,” hissed Riku. “You’re nothing but a weapon….What changed you?!”

 

“I was changed long before you got into the picture,” Running at him at full speed, she struck from overhead, landing a blow that threw him up into the air. Axel leapt up, attacking in midair with quick, fiery slashes. He landed on his feet, grinning at his foe with the same confidence bordering on arrogance. To him, nothing was truly out of reach as long as he had the will and the ability to keep fighting. Xion had always admired that about him. That, to her, was someone who could stay strong to the bitter end.

 

Xion peered up, and gave a startled gasp at the sight of the envelope fluttering out of Riku’s reach. Jumping upwards, she lunged and snatched the paper out of thin air with a small smile. As her fingers closed around the envelope, it shone with a bright light, and she heard a pained cry from the Riku copy. He was breathing heavily, and clearly hadn’t planned on being on the defensive.

 

Letter in one hand and Keyblade in the other, she walked towards him, extending her arm pointing the weapon out in a stance that warned him not to come closer.

 

“Looks like another unexpected surprise…Not good….”He almost snarled the words out. A portal of darkness opened, and into it sunk the boy that had tricked her. He disappeared, and the square was empty, save Xion and Axel. The Keyblade disappeared, but she held the letter close.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“FIgured I save the explanation for later, but you’re getting out of here. Soon.” Axel didn’t make eye contact as he spoke, as if he was trying to figure out the words to say. It had been so long since she had really, truly seen someone who she could call a friend.

 

“How? I thought that…That was never going to happen.” Xion wasn’t one to cry, but she fought tears, her voice thick as the bell tower square before her blurred.

 

“Roxas and I didn’t make it much longer after you disappeared…but, just like that, one by one, we’re getting pulled into other plans…” There was a smile on Axel’s face when she looked up. He was fading away into light, piece by piece.

 

“Xion.” She looked up. She always had to, because he was so much taller than her or Roxas. “It was a long time coming, but you’re staying put this time, alright? And if anyone has a problem with that, they’re going to pay for it.” He clapped her on the shoulder, and turned away. The last thing Xion saw of Axel was a grin, carefree and unburdened. It looked like somewhere along the way, he had picked up a heart.

 

“Ice cream is on me the next time we meet in the waking world. Oh, and tell him I said hi.” With a jaunty wave and no further clues to what his last statement meant , Axel vanished.

 

= =

 

“So, you’re the kid that almost fried Larxene.” There was a tall Nobody that had arrived in Radiant Garden, and who couldn’t stop talking for even a second.

 

He came bearing a wrapped figure in a thick white tarp, which was swiftly carted off into the castle laboratories by Ienzo’s burly colleagues. The scientist himself was talking excitedly to another Organization coat-clad figure, who was crossing numbers out on a whiteboard and correcting formulas.

 

“Well, she didn’t make it very easy for me…” Kairi replied warily. The fight had taken a lot out of her, and neither she nor Marluxia looked capable of showing mercy. “To be honest, she was kind of…aggressively scary?”

 

“I know. Oh, man, look at this Organization betrayer-Keyblade wielder synergy!” Demyx pointed to her, than to himself.“You should see what she’s like to be around all the time.” He grimaced visibly with a small shudder.

 

“Speak for yourself,” Sora quipped back. “You showed up, said I was a traitor, and then started a countdown with a bunch of water clones!” He glared at the newcomer, who flinched at the accusation, slumped his shoulders in a move that suggested the words had gotten to him.

 

Kairi couldn’t begrudge him too much, if he had come with something to help Ienzo recover another Nobody’s heart that was sleeping within Sora. Still, Demyx, even compared to Axel’s sense of humor, was, without a doubt, an incredibly strange and likely untrustworthy person.

 

“Demyx,” Kairi asked, “Who was this girl we found? Xion, I think…? The one that Namine’s trying to heal?”

 

Promptly, Demyx made a zipper motion across his mouth, and stomped off. She wasn’t sure what she expected.

 

Whenever she looked at the sleeping girl, Xion’s face, the spitting image of hers from when she was younger, resonated a deep sense of sadness. If the letter that she had thought the Riku replica had stolen would reach her, would it be of any help?

 

“Are they all that…weird? “Saix I like the least, I think, because….” Kairi gestured vaguely, but knew that Sora would probably get the point. She grimaced at the thought of running into the stern-faced man who could shift from calm to enraged in the blink of an eye.

 

“Ugh, don’t get me started,” Sora made a face. “Every time I run into one of them that’s not trying to kill me directly, they start being vague.” He shook his head. “I don’t really get it, but do you want to know a secret?”

 

“What?”

 

“I don’t think _they_ always know what they’re talking about either,” Sora grinned, confident as always that things would work out in the longer run. “And, I have all of you here, so I’ll be okay, no matter what.” It seemed that no matter what, that belief of his was unshakeable.

 

For as long as Kairi had known him, Sora had a way of looking at someone that assured them that no mattter what, he would do what it took to keep someone he cared about safe, and that in turn, he would be granted the strength to go forward as well. But lately, whenever he looked at her sometimes, it was as if he was asking a question of himself. There was a vulnerability in his voice, too, that was there one instant and gone the next, a feeling that she realized whenever she was in the middle of putting down a secret on a letter.

 

Kairi nodded. “I got a bit of a slow start, but I think I’m starting to really get the hang of this.” She smiled, and thought about her promise to try to keep Sora safe, just as he had come to her rescue so many times.The Organization had hurt its fair share of people, so much so that its own members weren’t immune to backstabbings, intrigue and lies. Every world she had been to held clues not only to what its people were like, but to the treacherous path forward, as well.

 

Was it really so bad, if he was to pick up her last letter, and read the words of how she felt?

 

That was a question that her heart was approaching an answer on. But it wasn’t quite there yet.

 

= =

 

_I can’t find him. There’s nowhere to go. I’m never going to catch up. I’m useless._

 

_Those were the doubts I couldn’t get out of my head when things seemed pretty much impossible. A man named Saix had once told me that the reason I was here, out in the world, is to provide motivation. That who I was didn’t matter._

 

_What do you say to that? How do you get around this awful, trapped feeling that seems to keep you from getting back up? I think that’s something I don’t have an easy answer for…_

 

_Darkness is a constant in the universe, and these days it looms closer and closer.But what gives me hope is this: there is always something to pull light from, if you look carefully. For me, it was the hope of seeing my friends and my home again when it seemed impossible._

 

_If you’re out there in the world in a difficult place, and you’re struggling, I am rooting for you to pull through. Your memories, and your heart, and the courage that you certainly possess are your own, and they can guide you out without fail._

 

_Your Friend,_

_Kairi_

 

After she had finished reading the note, Xion held it in her hands like the fragile little thing that it was. She was outside of the glitching city now and somewhere else. The black buildings and neon screens of the World that Never Was had taken over the warring worlds of the Nobodies’ fortress and Twilight Town. She was in The Alley Between, a street that she often took when returning to the Castle after missions.

 

Kairi was a strange soul, and Xion wanted to meet her. She had a belief in whoever would find and read her letters, even if they had done horrible things or were wrong in the past. Would she hate Xion for taking away Sora’s memory if they met? That was an answer that eluded her as she walked on towards the Castle.

 

At last, she stopped at Memory’ Skyscraper, a building that was the brightest lit structure within the city in eternal nightfall. Crawling about the side of the skyscraper was a pink-and-red clad figure. Xion’s eyes widened as she recognized just what the monster was. 

 

“You’re….that’s not possible…!”

 

She had remembered the moment where she knew her time was up, thinkingly for good. She had shed the appearance that she had thought was hers, and taken the monstrous form to get Roxas to finish her off. Instinctively, Xion drew her Keyblade and sunk into a guarding stance. As it lunged forward with two pale pink blades, Xion blocked, then struck back. She knew how this monster would attack, and knew it well. 

 

Every moment she fought the form she had taken once, the memories of the times she was treated cruelly or the plans of how she was made to destroy were etched deeper. Even knowing that Axel remembered her didn’t quite help.

 

Then, she remembered the note. Somewhere out there, the girl from whose memories she was created was, improbably enough, possibly rooting for her. _Your memories, and your heart, and the courage that you certainly possess are your own,_ Kairi had written. Funny, how that both was and wasn’t true. But she was right, in that neither Sora nor Kairi fully owned nor knew of what had happened in the days that had passed in the Organization.

 

A blur of black sped out between her and the monster, and added another attack. No. She had heard wrong. They had struck twice, and columns of light filled the square of the Skyscraper.

 

With several dull sounding cracks, thearmor in the monster’s headpiece fell away to reveal someone that looked the part of Sora, but whose entire body was black. Two glowing yellow eyes gleamed bright, and it slumped over and got on all fours, emitting a feral growl. Its hands furled like claws, and the monster leapt at the newcomer, who knocked it back with a spell of columns of light. One that looked quite like hers.

 

The short figure before her held two keyblades, one black and one white, as if he was born ready to balance the devastating weapons. Then, he reached up and pulled back the hood of his coat.

 

“I think I improvised something better than a stick this time,” Roxas grinned. “Ready to go home, Xion?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Organization XIII is made up of people who would work at a bad airlines help desk and no one exemplifies this more than Demyx
> 
> I put "reference Roxas, that's a stick" in all caps in the scrivener comments section for this chapter before I started writing it


	20. Many Ways Home

It was muscle memory, and it was a surge of hope that there was a way out. As Xion rounded the plaza of the skyscraper, she kept her eyes on the enemy, in part because it needed to get cut down and in part because she wasn’t quite sure what to do. Hope had been something that had danced out of her reach, and yet, right when she needed it the most, help had come to her to fight by her side. Even as the monstrous enemy that resembled Sora struck at them with razor sharp claws and a relentlessness that seemed powered by the darkness itself, she couldn’t look at it. Not when another unanswered question lingered before her.The fight wasn’t finished, but Xion fought tears, too.

 

“Roxas…are you real, too?” She couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Yes. And I made you a promise.” With two keyblades in hand, he looked the part of his title that Xemnas had bestowed long ago, a key to whatever destiny lay ahead. “Even if I forgot, even if I had to go away into Sora for a while, that I’d find you and Axel again. I intended to keep it.” Clearly, he had felt the hurt of losing both of them.

 

Then, his seriousness fell away to a brief, gentle smile. Despite the fact that anger consumed him at everything the Organization had done to him, Roxas was still in many ways the curious, compassionate friend she had known.

 

“Right. Let’s get out of here.” The flat of the blade blocked a particularly nasty-looking downward swipe by the creature, who hissed as a projectile of light Roxas sent his way struck him in the side. 

 

Her brightest days within the Organization had been filled with the time she spent knowing what to do, with the Keyblade at her side and her friends at her back. And now, facing down whatever remnants of what her sordid destiny was meant to be, Xion felt strong enough again to fight back against whatever she faced. She found a running start towards the building, ran up along the side of it, and leapt out at it like there was nothing to lose.

 

“Xion!” Roxas tossed up one of the keyblades, a silvery-white looking weapon that gleamed with light. She caught it, and spiraled back down towards the creature, cutting across it with both borrowed weapon and the keyblade that finally she could claim as her own. She heard the sudden sound of a slash of metal, and the final anguished cry of the creature that manifested out of the darkest parts of her consciousness. It vanished into bubbles of darkness as the body of Xion’s worst memory sank into the shadows, confronted but conquered.

 

“Did Axel mention ice cream was on him?” Roxas asked, sitting down besides her as they found the ledge of the skyscraper. They looked out, one last time, towards the memory of the Castle that had once locked both of them up as weapons.

 

“I think so,” Xion answered, closing her eyes. The edges of Memory’s Skyscraper peeled away, panel by panel, as the world before them vanished into light. They were heading off back into reality, where and old friend and a slew of new chalenges awaited. But that was okay. 

 

Feeling a burden lifted off her shoulders, Xion smiled, ready to let go of whatever kept her in place, all this time, and to start writing a new chapter.

 

“Hey, you’re finally up!” Roxas’ grinning face appeared above her as he loomed over her.

 

“Bwah!” She flinched back, and hit her head hard on something. Several darts fell to the floor of what looked to be a clubhouse of some sort. As Xion looked aroumd, and gingerly got up from the couch, she felt a warm, comfortable breeze waft through the wire-chain fence that surrounded them. “Don’t scare me like that! Wait… what…where are we now?”

 

“Wow, way to be considerate.” Axel’s drawl cut in. He was holding a plastic bag, and jauntily walked into the alcove, as cool and calm as if they were simply closing out a mission on an ordinary day.“Take a look outside. I think you can get the picture in a split second.”

 

They stepped out onto a small brick road, and Xion knew instantly. She took a poster for something called ‘Struggle’ off a nearby wall and marveled at the colors. Somewhere in the hills below, she could hear the rumble of streetcars and the bustle of people surrounding them. The smell of cooking from a bistro wafted uphill as the wind picked up.

 

Overhead loomed the clock tower of Twilight Town where they had spent so many brilliant sunsets, full of secrets, hopes, joys and fears had encompassed the days they spent together in the Organization. It had been the place where she thought she would part ways with her friends for good. And now, it welcomed her back into the world, and the Twilight Town before her was real. Her vision blurred as tears came into her eyes again.

 

“I’m a mess right now…sorry, guys.” She sniffled. And soon, she wasn’t the only one that had lost the composure that had been the crux of being a Nobody.

 

“Alright, enough crying,” Axel spoke up, though his voice was shaky and raw from the pain that had weighed down what he had had to do. “The ice cream is going to melt at this rate, and we can’t have that.”

 

“I think there’s a lot to catch up on,” piped up Roxas. “And we’ve got the whole afternoon ahead of us to do just that.”

 

= = =

 

Yen Sid resembled every strict teacher Kairi had ever had rolled into one stern, disapproving wizard. Mercifully, he had delegated the day-to-day task of teaching up to Merlin, who was far friendlier. But meetings with the Former Keyblade Master himself meant large changes looming over them.

 

Yet, as they took the train up from Twilight Town, a sense of foreboding filled her. What lay ahead probably wasn’t just a simple social visit. Someone like Yen Sid probably didn’t believe in them as a rule.

 

“I had always wondered where this train would go.” Roxas looked towards Twilight Town, which was getting smaller in the distance. “I think there was a rumor that it was haunted.”

 

“There’s rumors that a lot of things in Twilight Town hare haunted, if I remember everything Pence says,” Kairi laughed softly. “Namine, weren’t you supposed to be a ghost in the mansion?” It didn’t help that she dressed in all white and had a tendency to appear very suddenly. But unlike ghosts that usually haunted mansions, she was unfailingly kind once someone got to know her.

 

Her Nobody shook her head, and continued to work on her sketchpad, swapping out oranges and reds that would no doubt make for a peaceful sketch of Twilight Town. “I didn’t mind that much. At the time, I needed to be alone to work on a very important job. And make some difficult choices…” She looked up at Xion and Roxas, and looked at a loss for words. “Roxas. Axel. Xion, too. I’m sorry that we had to change so much, but we couldn’t let Sora stay asleep…”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes. Like me, sending out a bunch of letters Kairi didn’t want people seeing.” Axel shrugged. He had changed from his Organization coat into the brighter-hued clothes that the fairies had made him, as had Xion and Roxas. “Which, last I heard, turned to work out in your advantage, didn’t it?”

 

For the most part, he was right. “There’s still one letter missing.” Kairi said, considering it and knowing the weight that the note carried. “Sora’s.”

 

Somehow, the little letter was nothing, because a part of her knew how he felt. And yet, it was everything. How irritating, she thought, that there was so much importance she placed in words she had never meant to send. And now that they were somewhere

 

“Wow, this from the guy that never failed missions.” A grin that bordered on smugness crept onto Roxas’ face. “Who knew that Axel would finally have an off day when it came to something like this?”

 

Axel held his hands up defensively. “Okay, In all honesty, though, who here knows what’s probably in the letter?” He asked.

 

Every single other hand in the train car went up.

 

“Wait…Really?!” Panicking slightly Kairi looked to each person. Certainly one of them had to be bluffing, right?

 

“Memory powers,” Namine shrugged, replacing one pastel and selecting a bright sun-colored one.

 

“Deductive reasoning,” Roxas replied. “But also a little bit of the memory thing, from Sora.” His expression grew slightly exasperated for a split second. “He’s… not the most subtle person.”

 

“Ditto what Roxas said.” said Xion, with a small smile. “I got one of your letters, though. And if Sora’s is anything as nice, I wouldn’t worry too much.”

 

“I wish it was that easy to not worry.” And it was, when it came to things like finding lost people or figuring out something difficult in a world. But when it came to things about her own heart, having faith was a little more difficult. “Anyways,” Kairi pointed out the window. “It looks like we’re almost there.” The railway that had taken them out of Twilight Town had vanished, replaced by train tracks made of light and stars that took them through space itself.

 

“And you’re going up the tower first. The old man’s probably got a new mission for you.” Axel observed.

 

Kairi nodded. “I think I’ll be ready for whatever comes next.” Everything before had lead up to this point. And if she had the right plan and enough conviction to face it, nothing was truly, definitively impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved the Sea Salt trio’s outfits at the end a lot. Isa’s coat looked a little strange, though. What was up with that collar. 
> 
> it is kind of ridiculous how many people have part or all of sora’s kh1 memories


	21. Interlude: Words of Wisdom

“Aqua’s location remains out of reach. It is time, then, to retrace her steps through the Realm of Darkness.” Yen Sid reached for a large tome on his desk, and, with a wave of his hand, the cover fluttered open. As the paper shuffled through the length of the book an image rose out of it to show a world unlike anything Kairi had ever seen before. It looked jagged, sharp and carved out of negative space itself. Chunks of glowing blue crystal formed walls that resembled a cave, forming into islands, walled canyons and valleys. In other realms, buildings and roads remained intact, and could almost resemble a nighttime setting in miniature if there wasn’t a sinister aura that loomed over the surface of the world. She stared at it for a moment, studying it carefully and wondering just what foes lurked beneath its surface, waiting to strike at anything with a Keyblade to slake an unquenchable thirst.

 

“Gosh, I know I’ve tried to connect to her heart, but it’s getting fainter every time we search,” The King sounded wearier than the last few times Kairi had seen him.

 

“You did your best, Mickey. Don’t worry about it too much,” Riku assured him. There was a familiarity to the way they spoke, and Kairi was glad that he had found so much of a rapport with the ruler of Disney Castle. For a very long time, they could only talk to one another.“Master Yen Sid. What would you propose we do?” He then asked.

 

That had been the question on her mind from the very beginning of her training, when they had heard Master Aqua’s tale of being trapped, found, then lost again in the Realm of Darkness. Kairi had remembered listening to it intently and feeling nothing but heartbreak at what had transpired when King Mickey stumbled across his old friend. The distance between her and the worlds she had known looked far off, but not impossible to bridge.

 

“A new disturbance at Castle Oblivion suggests the Organization is searching for something is there. Mickey, your strength is needed there to protect whatever secrets it holds. Take the newly awakened Keyblade wielders, and investigate what Xehanort plots to do there.”

 

The mouse-King nodded, but looked over anxiously at Riku. “I can do that, but is Riku going to be alright looking for Aqua alone?” At the suggestion, their own resident Keyblade Master shrugged, but didn’t look excited about the prospects of going alone.

 

Yen Sid shook his head. “Sora and Kairi will accompany him to search the Realm of Darkness.” At the announcement, she saw Sora stand a bit taller, and look alert. He always had a funny, formal look about him in front of Master Yen Sid, standing at attention like a soldier. It had to be good news that he was finally getting to go where he wanted, after journeying through different worlds once more and likely trying his best to train all the while.

 

“Sora,” said the wizard. “Your journey has reforged your strength, and led you to the brink of finding what you had lost in the Sleeping Worlds. Though you have been eager to join Riku, I urge that you tread carefully.” For the briefest of moments, Kairi was certain that the old wizard, whom she thought virtually unflappable by anything, felt pained by an old memory.

 

“This tower,” he continued, “has already temporarily housed a fallen keyblade wielder or two. I hope that it will not do so again.”

 

He then turned to Kairi, who had listened to the exchange with trepedition. If Riku had taken the trials needed to gain the power of waking, and Sora was tested by a number of adventures, why had she been asked to accompany them? After all, both of them had qualified for the Mark of Mastery, while she was still just getting started to know the Keyblade’s workings.

 

“Kairi.” Yen Sid’s voice brought her back to the present,

 

If there was a pause between her name and what he would say next, she didn’t quite know.

 

“Yes, Master Yen Sid?”

 

“You have found a precious clue to Master Aqua’s whereabouts, have you not?” asked the wizard.

 

She took a moment to think over the details of the note she had sent. “Yes, about a little alien she may have made friends with in her past.” Kairi reached out into her pocket and pulled out the Wayfinder Sora had given her. As always, it felt light, clumsily made, but sturdy sitting in the palm of her hands. She held up the charm of shells and sea glass,

 

“He said that he learned how to make one of these charms from seeing hers. King Mickey, did she have one of these?” 

 

“I think she had _something_ star-shaped on her belt, actually.” The sight of the charm jogged the King’s memory as a glint of recognition passed through his eyes. “She liked to look at it as a reminder of her friends.”

 

Evidently, the Wayfinder that Aqua carried had a strong enough of an impression on the hearts of others, if Stitch could remember it seeing something similar much later. Whatever the keyblade wielders of the past had done, they had won the affection of the denizens of the different worlds, just as she, Sora and Riku had done. A faint warmth filled her, considering the potential of good that could be done with their abilities. But Aqua had to come first. And what mattered the most to Aqua would lead them to where she had wandered off whatever path she had started on.

 

“A reminder…What if we start searching for clues of her in the worlds she went to in the past?” Kairi suggested. “The ones that have pieces in the Realms of Darkness? That could help us find a path to her, even if the King isn’t there with us.”

 

Riku nodded. “That’s a good idea. If at first you don’t succeed…”

 

“We’ll find her for sure.” Sora gave a little determined hop at the chance to try a mission that he’d wanted to go on ever since Riku had started to search. “And when we find her, we’ll be able to find Ventus, too.”

 

“One step at a time,” Riku held his hand up, but cracked a slight grin. Both he and Kairi knew well that once Sora was determined or excited about something, there was no stopping him from seeing it through to the end.

 

“Visit the fairies for a protective spell on your clothing, and depart when preparations have been finished.” The Wizard closed his eyes, as if ruminating on the decision he had just made. Kairi knew that his remarks about seeing a fallen keyblade wielder had been a signal to all three of them.She looked towards the spellbook once more, and saw the reasonn why. Suddenly, every crevice of the model of the world was filled with glittery yellow eyes, and in an instant, shadows filled the surface of the Realm of Darkness that the book displayed. It was a promise that while the world likely housed the way to Aqua, it also posed great threat. Whatever secrets they sought about Aqua or about the world itself would be closely guarded.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME…TO THE LAST ARC 
> 
> my general framework for writing destiny trio is like 3 10 year olds that are playing a video game in the late 90s:
> 
> Sora: button mashes, may or may not succeed  
> Riku: Generally knows what he’s doing but gets stuck near the final boss   
> Kairi: Saves up allowance for the walk through book, which the other 2 borrow to 100% the game


	22. The Longest Midnight

They shared stories to keep going. Mostly for the sake of Alice, who was the youngest, quietly distressed, and feeling more lost in Hollow Bastion than she was in her home world of Wonderland. But Kairi, who felt just as out of her depth, liked listening to the other Princesses of Heart. Though taken by darkness, they had all come from worlds far and wide, ranging from sunny deserts to twisted black forests filled with witches and fairies.

 

“So there was a castle in my old world that I wanted to see more than anything” Cinderella had said, bracing herself against a spires and delicately climbing up, one step at a time. Her glass shoes dangled off her free hand as she short-hopped over an exposed pipe that spewed a foul-smelling steam. Once she had finished, Cinderella stepped into the slippers once more “I wasn’t allowed to. There was too much work to be done, and that I wouldn’t be suited to visit.” She counted reasons off, one by one. “But I dreamed about going somewhere as magical as that, just the same.”

 

“What happened? Did you find helpers in order to get to the castle?” asked Snow White. The two of them had an affinity for woodland creatures and dreaming that Kairi didn’t quite understand.

 

“Yes, something like that. It involved a pumpkin, and I had to get back before midnight, but I got to go” answered Cinderella. “I never left the house much, save for market day. So in a way…this was a big step to take.” She looked ruefully at her outfit. “To be quite honest, I miss my old shoes. They’d be much more comfortable to climb in than these…”

 

Kairi missed the days she had spent in own world of the sunny Destiny Islands, also lost from view. But even then, she sensed something familiar about the twisted castle they walked through. Regardless, she was happy enough to listen, press on, and keep heart that she would find her friends once more. The truth would reveal itself in time, as long as she was ready to take the big steps when she needed to. As for the stories, she planned on writing them down in one form or another.

 

= =

 

It was easy to see the beauty that the consumed world had once held. She had caught a glimpse of the remains of the town, with its neat rows of houses that still carried windowsill plants and street lamps. Outside of the boundaries of the town, though, slabs of dark cliffsides threaded with pale blue lights jutted out, a clear reminder of the Realm of Darkness’s constant presence. Kairi carefully checked the scrap of a map they had dug out of a ruin earlier, and rolled it back up. She looked over at Riku, who looked at her questioningly. She pointed towards the right side of a fork in the road in return.

 

Once, the world had been someone’s home. Kairi couldn’t forget that, and she was certain that this truth was something Aqua carried with her, if she had been someone with strong enough of a heart to master the Keyblade’s secrets. Despite the constant pressure of the Darkness drawn to her, she felt light on her feet as they made their way through, unlocking doors and peering through empty house after empty house. Only reams of heartless, tougher and faster and stronger than the ones they had encountered before, inhabited the world. They moved truly with a mind of their own, controlled not by Maleficent or Xehanort, but by their own mechanations. And every single Heartless’ intuition was set to destroy them.

 

“Riku tried to make a friend the last world we went to.” Kairi grinned, breaking the silence after one particularly difficult skirmish. “And it went flawlessly! I think he and the Beast really bonded over the mission.” They had traveled into a house isolated onto an island far larger than the others, and were searching through the rooms.

 

“Oh, cool! How’d he manage to do that?” asked Sora. Wisps of several shadows disappeared as he slung his keyblade over his shoulder and walked back towards them, peering over Kairi’s shoulder to re-check the map.

 

Despite Riku fervently shaking his head, she continued. “Well, they didn’t talk much right away. But Riku had to stick up for the Beast when he really needed it,” she answered, not quite giving out all the embarassing details, but just enough to ruffle their most serious friend’s feathers a little.

 

The comment drew Sora’s attention immediately, and he turned towards Riku, brightening up at once. “Wait, really? Wow, I’m so proud of you!”

 

“I can make friends, guys.” Riku snapped defensively, shutting the lid of a wooden trunk he was searching a little more loudly than he usually would. “Come on, seriously? There was the King. I was traveling with him the whole time.”

 

“Well, It’s nice seeing you branch out a little, that’s all.” Tapping the side of a shiny treasure chest, Sora lifted out a hi-potion and turned it over to check the experation date. He found the label, grimaced, and placed it back into the chest, frowning. “You’re making so many new connections since the Sleeping Worlds. That way, you’re not all serious or sad all the time, even if we’re not around.”

 

“And maintaining those connections is of utmost importance ,even though you carry the mantle of a Keyblade Master.” Kairi said in a tone that mocked the authoritativeness of their wizardly instructors. She stifened her posture, as well, drawing an amused laugh from Sora.

 

“Why did I think taking you two on a mission would be any different?”Riku was a person that still didn’t smile too often, but that only meant that whenever he found something funny, he meant it.

 

“You know what you were getting into. Cmon’, cmon’, I hear something that way!”

 

Kairi watched Sora take the lead, despite several protests from Riku to not wander off too far alone. He bounded off towards a large, fragmented plaza outside the house.It was impossible to deter Sora from seeing their journey as anything but an adventure, regardless of how desolate the land they explored now was. He had all the certainty in the world that they would find Master Aqua, and that was that. All that they needed was to find the right opportunity, and everything else was a matter of teamwork. She hoped that it was that simple. But then again, Sora had the talent of making the most complicated, impossible things clear. And that was something to smile about, even while fighting through a sea of heartless.

 

= = =

 

The castle, at least from a distance, looked untouched by the darkness around it. As Sora, Riku and Kairi stood out in the plaza and peered upwards towards it, taking the sight in. Even in the dim lights threaded into the realm of darkness’ rockwork, it glowed an ethereal blue and had an imposing presence over the rest of their surroundings, capping the broken pieces of their surroundings and taking over the imagination like a monarch’s crown.

 

“Wow, what kind of a person do you think lived in that castle?” Sora dashed up a nearby wall to get a better look.

 

“Hmm,” Riku thought about it. “Well, not Belle, Jasmine, or Alice…or you.” He pointed at Kairi.

 

“Castles aren’t really my thing.” she shrugged. “Visiting, yes, but living?” She shook her head. “I’d miss everyone outside the castle too much.”

 

Specifically, she had missed how easily Sora laughed at bad jokes, or how he could stare Xehanort in the face and not back down. How he could find her again and again, and know how to make her smile every single time things seemed hopeless.That was probably what she would miss most about being stuck somewhere for good. But right behind Sora were all the other connections that had made her heart all the more stronger. Riku’s patient advice, Lea’s tenacity, Namine’s newly earned trust, and now an opportunity for Xion to be free had all been there for Kairi to find once she had taken the steps outside of the dungeon. In the worlds she had visited, she had known Rapunzel’s curiosity and the unmatched, firece spirit of Lilo and Stitch’s friendship, how Belle always fixed her gaze on what was really important.

 

They had been pointed there to the shifting pieces of the Realm of Darkness by whatever had taken them into the realm where Aqua was lost. She was certain that there was a clue of some sort that would lead them closer.

 

“I hear that noise again. That rumbling…” Sora narrowed his eyes, and looked around the plaza. He glanced towards the castle, too, and found nothing.

 

“It’s coming from…below, I think.” Kairi tested the brick walkway, and felt a small tremor in her step. Suddenly, she gasped as a gigantic vine burst from the ground. It was covered in thorns and curled up into a claw-like wheel, grasping the plaza tiles. Soon after, a second, third, and fourth followed. An enormous pumpkin-shaped monster, teeth gnashing and hissing demonically, burst out of the ground. It took a swipe at the three keyblade wielders, who jumped out of the way of a slash that proceeded to break apart a row of columns behind them.

 

As the stone pillars crashed to the ground, Kairi looked at the creature with a sense of foreboding. It was strong, and looked liek it could be more of a match even outside of the Realm of Darkness. As the Cursed Coach began to float upwards and stamped down, creating shockwaves that caught even Riku off balance, she felt some of those fears realized suddenly.

 

“Block the vines, and attack the center of its body!” A ball of dark-colored flames formed in the palm of Riku’s hands as he rounded the edge of the plaza, then charged towards the monster.

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Sora held the Keyblade out in front of him to deflect the whole of the carriage that careened towards him, and jumped back. Flipping up into the air, he cut at it with a downward strike. Both attacks hit, but didn’t seem to faze the Coach, which growled and sent its wheels spinning. It started to circle the track and picked up speed quickly. Then, it rammed into both boys, sending them flying. Sora caught a streetlamp and swung back down. Following suit, Riku hopped down from the eaves of a nearby house, shaking off a few roof tiles.

 

“A pumpkin…” She looked at the monster’s distinctive shape, then at the enormous clock-face on the castle tower. Off in the distance, she saw a shining, small object in the shape of a gear. It shone far too brightly to bea simple piece of rubble. That she knew for certain.

 

“I see something important up on that ledge. I’m going after it!” Dashing past where the two boys grappled with the Cursed Coach, Kairi chased the glint, certain that this was something like the path Master Aqua had taken. If the Realm of Darkness shifted shape, then Aqua must have faced things similar to the worlds that it had absorbed. Luckily enough, she knew a little bit about how Cinderella’s world worked.

 

As she struck the glowing gear, Kairi felt a rumble from beneath her feet that stretched towards the castle. She looked up, and heard the low, steady chimes of an impossibly loud bell tower, and saw that the hands on the face of the tower had begun to move, powered by the beam of light emanated from the small object. The face of the clock had read nine’o-clock, and as it moved towards ten, she heard the monster let out a scream.

 

“Sora! Riku! We have to find two more gears to weaken the monster!It’s linked to that clock tower!” She called out. Refocusing, Riku looked towards a gear wedged into the tiles of what once served as a walkway in the Plaza, right below where the Cursed Coach rampaged. Sora looked upwards past a tall, walled-off gate, where another was tucked into an empty bird’s nest. At once, both Keyblade wielders sped off, Riku in a blur so fast that he looked like he teleported, and Sora speeding up the side of the walls like it was nothing.

 

The machinations of the clock tower rumbled to life once more. Light emanated from the two gears, and all three wielders of the Keyblade jumped back down towards the plaza, where the Cursed Coach reared up its wheels again.

 

As it charged towards Kairi, she cast the Barrier spell that had served her well against Maleficent, and felt the attack bounce off the protective panels thathad been conjured out of thin air. It hissed pathetically, and the next time it attacked Sora, the Coach had shrunk to half its size. He sent it flying towards Riku. Then, the hands of the clock aligned at midnight, sending out the loudest chimes from the castle yet. And at the hands of the young Keyblade Master, the Cursed Coach, now the size of a common pumpkin in any field or patch, met its end.

 

“So this isn’t a good time to talk about the pumpkin soup I made the other day, is it?” Sora broke the silence.

 

“Anything but that, please,” Kairi uncorked a potion, and shook her head. Whatever would prove to be true about the realm of darkness, it seemed to test just about everything— strength, knowledge, and reflexes. But in a way, she felt readier for it, and knew that they would just have to press on to find the truth about what had happened years ago to Master Aqua and her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like if both Sora and Kairi are hanging out with Riku on a mission they turn 25% more sunshine goober than usual, because the effect stacks. That goober synergy is real.


	23. Buried Pain

They had left the castle behind some time ago, and approached a part of the Realm of Darkness where flat-paned crystals and gems studded the rockwork around them. Rows and rows of oval mirrors lined the wall of a rounded chamber, where candles lit the way dimly. It looked by all accounts to be a dead end.

 

“Well, this isn’t heading anywhere good,” Riku frowned.

 

“If it’s the Realm of Darkness, doesn’t that apply to just about everywhere we’re going to go?” Kairi asked. After all, just about every doorway or passage lead to Heartless, larger Heartless, or whatever the carriage-like creature had been. Sora had said it was something called an “Unversed,” and that it was said to dwell in negative emotions. All three types of discoveries attacked on sight, and did so mercilessly. But for that, she had prepared herself. It was really the other types of dangers that lurked that she was worried about. After all, everything that had threatened them the most had taken a human form.

 

“If this is somewhere Aqua traveled, what does this mean?” Sora looked from mirror to mirror, trying to spot differences in their features. “Do you think there might be a clue to where she went here? Like…she visited a circus, maybe?”

 

Kairi looked at the curtains and carved stone that surrounded one of the mirrors, which were ornately framed and studded with colored glass around the edges.“It has more of a…witchy look, doesn’t it?” She tapped against a pillar idly, examining the reflection on the other side.

 

There had been something that Snow White had heard once, and her world had also fallen into the realm of darkness. A magical mirror that held answers sounded handy to have, but like all things, including the keyblade itself, it had the potential to do some serious harm. “Mirror, mirror on the wall…I think it went something like that?” Kairi couldn’t help but walk closer to peer into the depths of the glass, as if something else would appear.

 

Suddenly, a black streak cut across the front of her reflection like the arc of a sword’s strike. Her heart jolted suddenly as she leapt away, the keyblade appearing in her hand reflexively.It was too fast for Kairi to see, and she searched her surroundings for any sign of a disturbance.

 

Sora caught sight of her frantic expression, and ran over to see what had just happened. But by then, nothing appeared in front of her eyes, and the room in front of her remained empty, save for her two friends and the silent stillness that stretched out before them. Riku had hopped overhead to find something out of a treasure chest, satisfied that he had spotted something on a ledge that was almost out of sight.

 

“I just saw something move in the mirror. And _only_ in the mirror…” Kairi stepped back fron it with an alarmed expression.It had to be something unusual— a spell, a Nobody or Heartless ability, but whatever it was, she was on alrt.

 

“Well, that’s creepy…” Sora looked over, but only saw their reflections moving about, with nothing out of the ordinary.

 

“Realm of Darkness. Everything’s creepy.” Riku landed on his feet, throwing an Elixir over to Sora for safekeeping. “What did you see a few seconds ago, Kairi?”

 

If he wasn’t too worried yet, then whatever it was wasn’t too bad…probably. “I only caught sight of it for a second or two, but there was something blurry, but…dark. Kind of like you, when you teleport.” She mimed a sideways motion with her palm. “It moved too precisely to be a minor Heartless…”

 

Suddenly, the candles in the room flickered so that they extinguished and lit back up intermittedly, plunging the room into darkness and out of it just as quickly. Kairi felt a sense of forboding as the mirrors in the room appeared to draw closer. And then, she saw what she had suspected was there. In each and every surface appeared a helmeted figure, dressed in black and red. His face couldn’t be seen, and he seemed to dwell in the shadows themselves. As he raised his hands, every silhouette did the same.

 

“This is bad news…I’ve run into him before,” said Sora. All the mirth and optimism that had been present in him in their journey so far was gone, and replaced with something like fear and apprehension. In three flashes of light, they summoned their keyblades and awaited for danger to arrive.

 

She heard an alarmed cry from Sora, and looked behind in horror. One of the silhouettes, without warning, had grabbed ahold of him and had dragged him halfway through the mirror. But before Kairi could react, she heard a sound from the other mirrors.

 

“Something’s coming out of these,” Riku stepped out front, ready to start counterattacking. And sure enough, small purple foes, in threes and fours, began to emerge. Their red eyes glowed all the more menacingly within the Realm of Darkness, and they filled the room relentlessly, from within the mirrors.

 

Then, Kairi and Riku were alone, and in for what was to be the next fight for their lives.

 

= =

 

Sora was alone. Well, not completely. He could see through the mirror that Riku and Kairi were outside, and starting to try to cut a large, angry swarm of Unversed down. The helmeted figure of Vanitas stood before him, his rusted keyblade of cogs at the ready.

 

“I think it’s about time we finished what we started. Isn’t it?”

 

“Why? Why do you need Ventus’ heart so much? He tried everything to keep it from you!” There was a great deal that was mysterious about Ventus and Aqua, but Sora was certain about what they wanted when it came to Ven’s heart. It had to be kept safe and out of the wrong hands, and he had promised to do it.

 

“Ven and I are meant to be merged, Sora. It was a destiny that didn’t quite work out, no matter how much Aqua wanted to meddle with it.” With a click, he let the helmet open up to reveal a face identical to Sora’s, but one that was reveling in the idea of taking a heart out of him by force. Sora’s breath was short as he felt his chest tighten again, just as it had in Monstropolis when Vanitas meant to complete his task the last time.

 

“You’re so close to putting the pieces back together…But also, that much closer to the end.” Vanitas backed against the mirror, braced himself, then launched at Sora, laughing mercilessly. “Ven may have trusted you then, but wait until he sees what you look like now….”

 

There was a roar outside from behind them, and through the mirror Sora saw a large tree-shaped Unversed pelt apple-shaped bombs at Kairi, who deflected them with a magical shield. Riku was freezing the branches and climbing up the body of the monster, yelling something at Kairi to coordinate an attack.

 

“Your little friends aren’t doing so well, are they? I made that one myself.” Sora had parried a few attacks, but felt himself on the defensive from the onslought of strikes, slashes and magical attacks from Vanitas. A well-time dodge from a nasty-looking attack where he spun the blade like a wheel had Sora surviving but still without a plan. He needed a plan to fight back, and fast.

 

“Well, I made them all myself, but. Details, details…”

 

“I trust them. They’ll win against whatever you throw at them.” Bracing himself on the keyblade, Sora pulled himself up, undeterred. What was this but another arrogant bully that thought he could try to take what he wanted? If Vanitas thought that Riku and Kairi in danger would make him more afraid, he had something else coming. Suddenly, something clicked. Hercules had mentioned it offhand some time ago. Once he had his heart set on something to fight for, everything was simply a matter of taking the leap he needed to take. And if he failed, he knew he had people to pick him up again, without fail.

 

As Sora aprroached Vanitas again, his steps lightened and the feeling in his chest faded, as if he had assuaged some part of him that was afraid to stumble once more. Even if something slept out in the farthest reaches of the realms of light or darkness, all he had to do was be brave and certain enough to wake it.

 

So that, thought Sora, was the secret to the power of waking. It felt warm, and settled into him like a blanket on a cold day.

 

“Ven,” he said quietly, so quietly, in fact, that Vanitas couldn’t hear. “I gotcha. See you soon.”

 

The keyblade in his hands shone brighter as he charged fowards. “I have to say say,” Sora readied the weapon like it was just another day, a determined grin spreading over his face. “I liked you better when you were being flung through a door. Let’s see what I can try to do about that now.”

 

“You’re not going to be so smart once I get that heart out. Even if I have to gouge it out myself!” Vanitas snarled. He disappeared, then reappeared behind Sora, and sent the other boy flying off into the distance. Recovering, Sora shot back down and sent a spiral of wind flying towards Vanitas, which hurled him about like a ragged doll.

 

“Not as good as Sulley, but I’ve got plenty of Aero spells up my sleeve.” His keyblade struck Vanitas in the shoulder, and knocked him back towards the mirror. On the other side, Kairi had been flung out towards an group of Unversed that looked much smaller than before, spinning as her keyblade cut across several at once. She recovered, and leapt up to give Riku a high-five as he ran across the chamber cloaked in a magical fire, charging at the tree-shaped Unversed.

 

As their blades met once more, Sora realized that Vanitas had edged closer to the mirror. Almost, he thought. Kairi and Riku had weakned him if they had just taken out the creatures that were born from his heart. That left only one thing to do.

 

He let go of the keyblade, which had been locked with Vanitas’ weapon. Then, resummoning it, Sora, aimed for a low strike at the other boy’s legs, knocking him backwards. As he fell, Sora pushed him as far as he could towards the mirror, which started to shine brightly.

 

The chamber, with all its creepy witchy-ness, had never looked so welcoming. As they landed, Sora looked up and saw Kairi and Riku take out the last of the Unversed. Visible relief appeared on the expressions of both his most steadfast friend and the girl who had looked for him, time again, when all seemed lost. Those were the precious connections that had taken away the doubt, then and now.

 

They faced down Vanitas once more. He had shut his helmet, probably so that whatever anger was boiling inside of him couldn’t be visible.

 

“Not so easy is it now, is it?”

 

“I don’t have to beat you,” snarled Vanitas. “All I have to do is pave the way for the X-blade, Ventus’ heart or not.”

 

“But you’re still looking for him, aren’t you?” Kairi observed. “Isn’t that kind of…I don’t know, lonely?” From her recollections of what King Mickey had shared, there was a certain way that Vanitas always chased after Master Eraqus’ apprentices with so much determination.

 

The boy bristled at her words. “Oh, I am _not_ sitting around to get psychoanalyzed by your little girlfriend,” spat Vanitas. “I’m out.”

 

With a sharp jab of the Keyblade, he opened a portal, and sunk through it, likely muttering curses under his breath. Whatever he had planned for Sora, he had failed soundly.

 

“Well,” Sora placed his hands behind his head as they planned to depart for further into the unknown. “Believe it or not, I learned something about Aqua today.”

 

“And what was that?” asked Riku, who was feeling very self-satisfied as Kairi took a drink of the Elixir that he had helpfully found earlier.

 

“She probably had a lot of patience, if she had to talk to _that_ guy at some point…But also, there’s something you should know about Ventus…”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Vanitas would be a frightening jump scare if KH had any survival horror elements to it. But it does not, so he remains here, taunting our anime friends angrily but in a very corny fashion.
> 
> My headcanon for Riku is that he gets excited over finding treasures and boy did they hide those suckers good in KH3


	24. Unsettling Convergences

“A strange place you’ve chosen for an excursion, this.” Ansem the Wise’s voice boomed across the empty fields. “But I can see why you did not wish to return to the Castle with the others.”

 

“I don’t think I’m going there for a while,” said Namine, her voice mild yet firm in its certainty. Despite the fact that the place was one of the most desolate she had ever envisioned, in reality or in illusion, she felt at peace there.

 

“And besides, there’s something that I’ve wanted to see here.” The world before them was desolate, save for rockwork and cliffs smoothed down by eons, and the countless keyblades that studded the landscape, rusted and unused since their masters had perished generations ago. Ansem thought it strange that the memory-witch was so fascinated by morbid things. Then again, she had been born from the heart of a girl that never quite accepted fate, even when it seemed hopeless. As Namine perused the keyblades lodged into the ground, she reached out and touched the pommel of one, and smiled knowingly.

 

“Did you know? She asked. “A keyblade can hold a great deal of memory, even when its wielder’s mind and heart looks all to be lost. Isn’t that something, Master Ansem?”

 

The matters of the mind and memory were of the girl’s domain, and she rivaled his brightest assistants in all that concerned such topics. The exiled King nodded, and proceeded to watch over the graveyard as the girl continued to wander about. It was still that day, he observed, but elsewhere, trouble loomed.

 

= = =

 

If the worlds she had adventured in were meant to show them anything, it was that Aqua was working on very borrowed time, and that she faced down dangers that were relentless and without a trace of mercy. They proceeded through no more worlds that appeared unique that had been absorbed into the realm of darkness, and the rockwork began to look identical. Even the glowing blue minerals threaded into it began to look less like light and more like a different, polished facet of darkness that promised nothing.

 

What did that do to a person, Kairi wondered, walking through a winding passageway that looked so desolate for so long? What did that do to a person, when they were mostly alone to dwell on so many difficult things that had happened to them? Kairi had wanted to ask Xion, or Roxas, or even Lea about that, but had never worked up the courage and just the right words. But now, she regretted not doing so earlier. Then, she thought about her letters.

 

Things hadn’t gone quite as she had expected when it came to where they had landed. One remained out in the universe, still lost and still filled with her feelings. Four had been found, and each had served a strange but fitting purpose. And in finding them, she had known far more than she had at the very beginning. The words she had written, once dreams, had solidified into promises that, one after another, Kairi strove to keep. And that truth, along with the friends at her side, had lent her strength where her shortcomings could not.

 

“Looks like we’re back where the King and I lost the trail,” Riku observed, running up ahead and scanning the horizons. Their path had lead to a hill that sloped downwards towards where the surface of a glittering ocean. Thin rockwork and cliffs framed the beach, lending a sinister air to the otherwise peaceful scene. “Any ideas?” He turned to Sora and Kairi, who were looking towards the empty shoreline.

 

“Oh, that’s the place where we were lost, isn’t it?” asked Sora. “Looks like it was somewhere important, if you keep getting led back here.”

 

That was a point that had caught onto an idea that had snagged onto Kairi some time ago. The steps they had retraced and the monsters that they had fought in the Realm of Darkness had fed them information piece by piece. In all likelihood, it wasn’t random, the places they had traveled to in the world. If it really was so vast, why did everything point to something new about Aqua?

 

“What if she wasn’t lost, at this point?” Kairi guessed.“What if…she was waiting, ready to find _us_?”

 

To her, that had been a possibility right when Riku and the King had gotten stuck for the first time. The chances were faint, but it was an outcome that she couldn’t quite rule out. If Master Aqua was as resourceful as she recalled from Yen Sid’s stories, she tended to be the one from her cohort to make plans and fix things whenever adventures went awry.

 

They heard the sound of a spell open somewhere towards the shore, where a structure that resembled the Paopu tree trunk back on the island stretched out until it reached them.

 

Perched on it was a silver-haired woman dressed in dark clothing. In her hands was a star-studded keyblade, and she looked upon them imperiously with an almost bored expression. Aqua’s appearance had changed, and so too did her demeanor. Gone was the kindly, gentle spirit that the King had described.

 

“How very perceptive of you,” she said, her voice hardened and monotone. “It took the three of you long enough. But what does time matter, anymore, when we’re here?”

 

“Master Aqua!” Riku’s face furrowed in concern. “What happened to you?”

 

“What happened to me?!” she snapped, her anger reverberating across the shoreline almost visibly.

 

“Like I’m going to be grateful to someone that made me wait even longer than I had to. I wasn’t showing my face to that King,” growled Aqua.

 

Already, Sora had summoned his keyblade, warily shifting into a defensive stance. But to him, it made sense to. He hadn’t known just how she had gotten to the point of succombing to the darkness. It pained Kairi to draw her weapon against someone who she knew had been through from the moment she had listened within Yen Sid’s tower.“What is there to go back to now?!” She snarled.

 

“The King _was_ worried about you,” Riku insisted. “But he—”

 

“Excuses! You want to bring me back so badly?” Her voice was wracked with pain as she leapt from the tree.

 

“Then go ahead and try!”

 

Overhead, a shimmering dome of energy sealed the four of them in from the rest of the beach. Glowing orbs of magic appeared above her keyblade as she began to fling them towards her would-be rescuers. Thinking fast, Kairi threw up a barrier over herself and breathed a sigh of relief when the orb bounced away, but not without some strain against her own spell. As long as it was three-on-one, they could probably figure something out. True enough, Riku had locked blades with Aqua as Sora maneuvered around the back of the dome. She readied a Blizzaga spell to try to slow down the lost keyblade master,and sent chunks of ice in rapid-fire succession flying towards her target.

 

But the deterrence was only momentary. Moving so fast her after-images looked like ghosts, Aqua dematerialized and rematerialized to fight Sora off just as Riku had found an opening to attack and landed a lucky hit. Only one spell from Kairi’s keyblade had hit. It seemed that skills honed for over ten years of fighting in darkness made her a far trickier opponent than anyone they had ever faced.

 

If every foe was like a book she had never come across, Aqua held volumes of strength forged from sorrow, from trials, and from test after test of her patience, fortitude and kindness. And now, she had run out of everything but rage.

 

“Aqua, please!” Sora parried off another attack, and looked upon her pleadingly. It had taken them some time to wear her down, but her attacks gradually slowed. And if anyone could get through to someone that seemed impossible to reach, it was him.

 

He held up the Wayfinder that, in all his time traveling, he had kept safe for Kairi’s sake. “Would Ven or Terra have wanted this?”

 

“You’re right.” To their surprise, she nodded in understanding.

 

Sneering, Aqua held up the small blue charm that was shaped just like Sora’s. It was the Wayfinder, the same one that had left such a strong impression on the friends she had made in the distant past. Stitch had held onto the little charm with something that approached reverence, which meant that once, a long time ago, Aqua and her friends had made the same promises to keep safe in whatever journeys they embarked on. Kairi knew that deep down, what they valued really wasn’t so different.

 

“I think it’s time for you to know what friendship cannot ultimately save.” She said. As Aqua tossed it up and shot a beam of light at it with the keyblade, Kairi heard the sound of metal as piece by piece, a suit of armor the color of darkened brass began to piece itself together from the shadows.

 

Clasped in two hands posed like a knight’s was a keyblade that looked like a heavy claymore in a statue or painting displayed in a museum. But as the suit of armor drew the keyblade from the ground and readied it, it had made sure that no one saw it as anything other than the danger that it posed.

 

Next to him was a shorter keyblade wielder in pitch-black armor that seemed to control the way the darkness around him pooled, congealed, and coagulated into blobs. The newcomer held his keyblade backwards, and spun it around like a bored delinquent. Aqua looked upon the two armoed figures with distanced trust, but for one split second, Kairi could swear she saw a twinge of pain pass over her before she turned back towards them, ready to battle once more. That had been something more human than Aqua allowed herself to feel.

 

“Ah _, shit_.”Sora cursed reflexively, albeit under his breath as he looked over the armored figures. 

“Guys,” he raised his voice. “I’ve fought the tall guy before, and he’s a REAL piece of work…”

 

Riku sighed. “I fought the short guy, and I second that.” He readied the keyblade, nodding in thanks to the Curaga spell that Sora cast, removing the worst of their wounds and granting a pinch of strength that they would need.

 

Kairi hated when her premonitions were proven right, and braced herself for a battle that would last far longer than they had anticipated. But the stakes were worth it, she thought. They had, against odds, found Aqua. All that remained was to fight a way out with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sora likely cusses very rarely but one of those scenarios is “Almost finish a challenging boss fight and have Lingering Will dropped on you out of nowhere”
> 
> I think I would probably chuck my Ps4 controller into the sun if that happened in the game tbh 
> 
> I laughed so hard at Riku posting an instagram photo from this location and tagging it #beaches #searching 
> 
> It killed the mood here so badly


	25. More than Strength

Time had always seemed to move too fast when it came to the things Aqua cared about the most.In the last moments she was truly clear-minded, the possibility of failure lingered. All she could worry about before the darkness had taken over was whether or not she had lost every future moment to spend with them, perhaps for good.

 

Deep down, she knew that it was wrong to distort the connections she had made for such purposes. But that disappointment had driven her heart further into darkness when she had felt alone, and at the point where she was, Aqua couldn’t see a way out. Terra’s body and mind were lost, and the key to Ventus’ awakening was locked away. He had been alone just as long as she was, and the thought of leaving him there, too, was one that had haunted her.

 

The spike of jealousy she felt at the sight of Riku, Sora and Kairi entering the realm of darkness with hope and determination wasn’t rational. Aqua knew that deep down, it had been a union that had been hard-fought. She had seen a glimpse of Riku, who dwelled in darkness, some years ago, run through with trouble in his heart. Sora had been a keyblade wielder with a remarkable power to connect hearts and worlds. The girl, Kairi, was far more distant to her, save for a faint inkling of recognition from somewhere, some place. It didn’t really matter, though, because she wasn’t going anywhere. And if she had to use the connections to the pain that had trapped her there, then that was just what she would do.

 

= =

 

“If we’re together, then I know how to win,” Sora nodded decisively. When he had first emerged from the Mark of Mastery exam, he had seemed unsteady in his movements, and took the time to find his footing. The Worlds had tested him once more, and, as always, he answered the call readily. Whatever had worried or distressed him the last time Kairi had seen him remained in her mind, but they had no time to waste on that now.

 

“Which is?” Riku asked, cracking a grin that anyone else would have needed a great deal of effort to earn. Setbacks, difficulties, and other monstrocities that the realm of darkness threw at him was nothing new.And at the very least, they wouldn’t be wandering much longer to try to find a glimpse of the lost master.

 

“Looking out for both of you, of course. See ya!” With a wave and a smile that was anything but dispirited, Sora charged towards the shorter of the two armored warriors,sending sparks flying as their weapons clashed.

 

“Are you going to be okay?” Kairi heard Riku ask as he sized up the taller armored warrior. Aqua remained at the center of the beach. Her keyblade crackled with magical energy as she looked over them imperiously.

 

“Yes,” she answered. “I’ll think of something.” The reply came to her just as easily as if it had been another day. And really, it could be, even though they were in for the fight of their lives.

 

“Of course you will,” He reached back his arm, as if drawing a bow, and into his hands shone the silver-colored keyblade. “I’m off, then.” With that, Riku ran towards his foe without looking back, just as he always did.

 

“I should be, too,”When the Keyblade came to her, Kairi felt ready to decide whether or not thy would be finding the Master that had waited for them, or if she would be lost forever. It was a weighty burden, this, to free a heart so troubled. All three keyblade wielders that were their opponents moved fast, and countered attacks with strikes, spells and deadly-looking combinations that looked of another age entirely. Aqua herself held her keyblade aloft like a knight that had been led down a crooked path, flashing a wicked grin as she rained lightning and bolts of fire out at Kairi. 

 

Some if the barrage, she could dodge. Other attacks bounced off her barrier. But when a hit connected, it burned with the intensity of someone without any options left and had been backed into a corner time and again.

 

“Out of the three of you, you left home last, didn’t you?” taunted the fallen Keyblade master. In a head-to-head fight, Kairi was certain that her odds weren’t very good. This, Aqua had demonstrated readily even when Sora and Riku weren’t fighting with her. She had to try something else. So she replied.

 

“How did you know that?”

 

“You don’t wield the weapon with as much certainty as your friends,” Aqua’s eyes narrowed. “I had a friend like that once. Thought he could do anything if he started out on an adventure. We all did.”

 

Kairi reflexively looked towards the shorter of the two armored warriors, who was sending a barrage of Aero spells cloaked in shadow at Sora. He was made of sturdier stuff than most, though, and rode the air-currents up to counterattack, leaping from above to find his mark. As he struck the armored figure, beams of pale blue light circled around them and converged, searing the Nightmare with beams of energy as it writhed in pain.

 

The symbol on the Nightmare’s helmet had reminded Sora of everything he had nearly lost. And the attack he used to fell it was borrowed from the Nobody that had helped bring him back from the brink when he was almost lost. It was thanks in part to Roxas that Sora could keep going, and he wasn’t about to forget that.

 

“But you gave him that chance anyways, didn’t you? What then?” Again and again, Kairi heard herself asking just that question, pulled further into stories that weren’t hers and wanting tidier resolutions to problems that may or may not have existed. Her first order of business was to make sure they survived the fight, but Kairi had sought answers about Aqua ever since she had heard about her. This was a set of questions she had to know about.

 

The Oathkeeper in her hands shone bright, changing shape from a blade to a book. Her clothing paled from pink to white. Small red triangles stitched themselves together to border her jacket’s hem and hood. The knowledge of spellcasters that stretched back eons filled her mind in an instant, and the pages of Kairi’s Light Codex pointed the way. A powerful healing spell swept over the targets she aimed at in addition to her own wounds.

 

Ventus was going to be part of whatever answers came forth.

 

“He’s down,” she recalled Sora saying a little bit earlier. “But he’s not out. I’ve been keeping him safe for his friends.” Closing his eyes at that moment, he placed a hand over his heart, which, for quite some time, hadn’t been just his own.

 

“Aqua, I know there’s more than pain in that Wayfinder. We don’t make those for just anyone on the Islands.” Her Keyblade’s new form had strengthened barriers that Kairi could cast, which was good and well; the angrier Aqua had gotten, the more she felt the storm of projectiles and lightning hurled her way get stronger. “It’s true that I was the last to leave, but I knew that I could take a small step forward, and that was enough. Isn’t that what was true about your friend, too? You saw him get stronger, even if it was little by little.”

 

Riku had cornered the tall armored keyblade wielder after a chase across the rockwork, dodging powerful strikes, blasts and slashes. As he glanced at the weapon that his foe wielded, he shook off the feeling of deja vu, and planted his feet to brace against a strike backed with power unlike any he had seen since…well, Xehanort himself. This looked to be an occasion where he would have to reach for the darkness. A risky move, as it always was. But if that was going to be the source of his strength, then so be it. As he focused, though, something inside his heart reached out.

 

“You?” He asked. “Now?”

 

The other Riku looked over, and nodded, that overconfident smirk the one thing that had remained from his days in Castle Oblivion. Then, Riku knew exactly what to do.

 

Disappearing into a flash of darkness to teleport away, he raised the Keyblade to attack. A mirage-like figure of the replica that had once pursued him but had since made peace appeared, wielding the Way to Dawn that he thought had snapped. In the replica Riku’s hands, it looked good as new and as if it had always belonged to him. As they attacked the Lingering Will’s shadow, they crossed paths, as if they had been fighting together for ages.

 

“Strength wasn’t enough for any of us. Nothing was,” Aqua hissed. In truth, Kairi was listening, but only sort of. She hid her hand from view with the book and began to slowly trace out a circle with her fingertip in the air. The magic of her Oathkeeper keyblade conjured a thin, gleaming white line in the air as her hand held steadily.

 

The pattern wavered and broke as she jumped to the side to dodge a strike that might have been lethal. Cursing her luck, Kairi began again. This time, it would work.

 

On the train to Yen Sid’s tower, Namine had talked about what it meant to draw something with magic. “As long as you know what you want to create, you’d be surprised at what you can bring to life.” She looked ruefully out at the window, as if recalling something guilty she’d done. Kairi had decided not to prod her more on the subject.

 

“Hey, we’ve all done things we’re not proud of. But that was how it worked. You figured out what the other Nobodies wanted, and planned on how to survive,” Lea rubbed the side of his head, as if he was talking about something distant as opposed to what he had lived. “Not saying that you’re going to have to make that choice, Kairi. Just think fast when you need to.”

 

Aqua was right, in a sense. It wasn’t Strength that was going to finish off the darkness that gripped her. But Kairi needed to counter before any more harm came to her friends. She finished off the circle with a pinch of her fingers, watching the spell descend into the pages of her Codex-shaped keyblade.

 

A larger version of the pattern she had sketched appeared below Aqua’s feet. The sand of the beach glowed with pale blue light so bright that it seemed to sear through the darkness that surrounded and blanketed them.A gleaming orb of holy energy emerged from the ground and took with it Aqua, who was trapped in it. Thin needles of light pierced the orb, flashing in and out of the air as the spell continued to hold the Keyblade Master in place.

 

The Oathkeeper settled back into Kairi’s hands, a keyblade once more, and she felt a jolt in her heart that told her what to do next. Waking Aqua up for good would cost something, and that was going to be her price to pay. The thin beam of light from the Keyblade shot out at the unconscious Aqua, and somewhere off in the distance they heard something unlock. A murky portal opened, floating above the beach.

 

“Are you trying what I think you’re trying?” Riku asked. He looked at the Keyblade in her hands and the determined expression on her face, and put two and two together. Of course he would have perceived it.

 

“I won’t be gone _for good_ , Riku. Trust me.” What lay unsaid was just how long it would take to reforge the connection between Aqua’s heart and hers. Whatever memory existed beyond the Islands still remained hazy and unclear.

 

She looked over to her other side, and realize that it was Sora that would take it the hardest to part ways with. This, Kairi had figured out from what had made him so downcast in Hollow Bastion. For so long, he had fought not to get them separated, and wanted to be the one that paid the costs and bear the burdens so she didn’t have to. But if he wasn’t careful….

 

Kairi was afraid to think about what that entailed.

 

“Still got a plan for this?” His smile was gentle and warm, and she knew she could take it whever she chose to go. Through just about everything, Sora had held steadfast to the idea that even the worst depths of despair weren’t undefeatable.

 

“You know, I think I do …”On the surface, he had sounded cheery. But in truth, Kairi had never known exactly what it looked like when they had to part ways. In the past, she had always been elsewhere entirely, or in a place where her heart had gone elsewhere. Specifically, somewhere she knew it was safe. There was more to it than that now. Across the worlds, she had seen Sora decipher proper princess techniques, stitch together a Wayfinder charm, cook French cuisines, and gather friends and enemies like no one else could. She wanted all the time in the world to share stories, or simply spend time doing nothing and watching a the sun set.

 

Just then, Kairi felt more certain just what she would do with the last, and most important letter she had written.

 

“If either of you see a letter I wrote, burn it. Immediately.Do NOT read it, or I’ll get mad, okay?” She held up her index finger in warning. “Don’t do it!”

 

With that necessary task settled, Kairi took a running start, and leapt in. Both she and Aqua disappeared in a shimmering veil of light, and then the boys were left alone.

 

“I know what it says,” Riku shrugged.

 

“Wait, really? What do you think it said?”

 

“You heard the lady. She’ll get mad.” The flat, exact answer was, true to Riku’s personality, far too matter-of-fact and yet revealed nothing that Sora didn’t need to know at the moment.

 

“Come on, just oooonnnnee hint?” It really was remarkable, how quickly Sora could go from attempting to cut down everything that wasn’t nailed down to the walls to the unknowable mix of optimism and thickheadedness that carried him through more ordinary days.

 

Silently, Riku mouthed the word _saps_ , rolled his eyes, and started the long way back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel very bad for activating the pirate ship and killing anti-Aqua that way in my playthrough 
> 
> SHE DESERVED BETTER!!!!


	26. Master's Memories

There was nothing before Kairi but a pane of round, glass in summery-grass green. As Kairi stepped out onto it, the surface shattered, revealing an image inlaid onto it in bright greens, yellows, and silvers. Up close, she couldn’t make heads or tails of what it looked like.

 

The world— was it a world, or somewhere else entirely?— was the most beautiful, still place that she had ever seen. And yet, the weight of sadness, and of something incomplete pressed up against her as she walked across the surface of the frosted glass. The platform was solid and unshaking, but with each step Kairi took, she felt a pull from memories and feelings not her own.

 

She stepped forward. It was all she could do. At the edge were a set of stairs that appeared, one by one, that spiraled upwards. Above, she could see light shine through other platforms, but couldn’t make out their patterns clearly either.

 

It was only when Kairi had gotten to the next floor that she could look below and see the picture completely and clearly.

 

“Roxas?” She said at first. The boy looked asleep, but clutched a keyblade in a backhanded grip that was unlike how she had seen the former Nobody fight. He had rushed after Xion, drawing two keyblades at once. This boy, she concluded, must have been someone else. He held the green Wayfinder charm that Aqua had summoned the armor out, which appeared in circles around the edge of the platform. His eyes were closed, but Kairi got the impression she wa being watched from somewhere above.

 

It made Kairi a little uncomfortable, to peer into the past of someone so distant in a place so silent and eerie. And yet, the heart was familiar to her for reasons she couldn’t quite place. Like Aqua, something devastating must have happened to the boy in the glass. With the knowledge of the glass image, she continued her way upwards.

 

The second platform she looked down upon showed an older boy holding a large, heavy blue-black keyblade, matching the profile of the armored warrior that had given Riku so much trouble. His brow was furrowed, and he had the expression of someone asleep but trapped in an unnerving dream he couldn’t escape.Scattered around him were orange-colored Wayfinder patterns, and looming right behind him were countless shadow heartless that looked ready to pounce, if they hadn’t all been frozen in place as patterns in stained glass.

 

“So this is what they looked like,” Kairi said softly. Yen Sid and the King had spoke of three wielders: Aqua, Ventus, who was lost in an attempt to forge a forbidden weapon, and Terra, who had succombed to darkness and looked to be impossible to get back. Once, they had been just like her and her friends, wandering and figuring out how to best master the keyblade’s powers, to find worlds’ secrets and defeat those that wished harm to the balance of light and darkness. Kairi guessed that both of Aqua’s friends had been flung far from the world they called home, and a twinge of sadness passed through her. Their stories had been etched into Aqua’s heart, doomed to be the only thing she repeated through as she wandered through the Realm of Darkness.

 

The topmost platform of the world was sea-glass blue, topped with a tall white chair. Kairi didn’t have much guesswork to do, for seated on it was Aqua, asleep and slumped slightly to the side. The keyblade appeared in her hands, her Oathkeeper gone and replaced by the Destiny’s Embrace that she usually favored. Pointing it at a shimmering light that emanated from Aqua, Kairi focused on a connection, fuzzy but certain, that connected her to the keyblade Master they had pursued for so long.

 

As the beam of light enveloped Aqua in a glowing bubble of light that lifted her out of the chair, Kairi heard the sound of wings from below as what looked like a flock of birds took flight off into the darkness. Kairi leaned over the edge to see what had changed, and her eyes widened in surprise.

 

The glass below had peeled away a layer, revealing two new panels.hose had been on the center-most circular platform, which depicted Aqua receiving flowers from a little girl in a garden ringed by pale purple paving stones.

 

Yes. Kairi was now certain that they had crossed paths once before. The memories came back to her, one by one. A handful of flowers. A brush with danger, and a spell on the her pendant that promised to protect her when she had needed it the most. Even as she had left, she had seen Aqua draw a keyblade of warm oranges and yellows and embellished with flowers. The same keychain that she now wielded. Holding the weapon she wielded flat across her palms, Kairi closed her eyes and thought back to what Aqua had said. That when she needed it the most, a magical spell would protect her.

 

That was a chance Kairi had been given, and it was that chance that had led her back to the keyblade wielder that now needed her help.

 

Aqua’s eyes opened. She got to her feet as Kairi approached. Gone was the white in her hair and the gnarled dark arm-guards she had worn in their last encounter. But the tiredness in her eyes remained.

 

“I take it you’ve come here to wake me up, Kairi” she said, with a small smile on her face. Her tone remained guarded, and Kairi couldn’t fault her much for that. The three of them had shown up armed and knowing very little about her, with demands.Even though the jolts of shadowy energy that ran through her as they clashed in the Realm of Darkness had vanished, the hesitation remained in the way she looked Kairi over warily. Still, there was a gentleness to Aqua’s gaze that recalled the day that they had met. “Are we returning to the realm of light?”

 

“Aqua, this is your heart,” Kairi shook her head. “So we’ll leave whenever you’re ready. But would you like to take a walk with me to clear your head?”

 

“I think I’d like that,” Aqua answered, with a cautious nod. She rose from the chair, which vanished in a shimmering cloud of sparks. She led the way down the slope.

 

“I think this is a good place if you need time to think,” Kairi observed. “It’s quiet, but…a little sad as well.” She looked towards the glass patterns on the floor, watching the light catch on the detailing.

 

= = =

 

“This was a very long time ago for you, wasn’t it?” Aqua looked at the surface of the glass platform. “Goodness, you’ve grown taller. All three of you.” A wistful look crossed her face as she got the first clear look at the girl, then back at the memory that they had shared once.

 

“You met Sora and Riku?” Kairi asked, surprised.

 

“Yes, on the Islands,” Aqua nodded. “Sora said he’d find Riku, even if he wandered off somewhere dark.”

 

“That’s exactly what happened,” Kairi pointed out with a laugh. “He’s the type to decide to chase after someone important to him without hesitation. I know that very well…” She couldn’t help but smile as she held her hand to her heart, knowing that Sora was probably worried sick that she wasn’t home safe with the rest of them. But another part of her had hoped that he trusted her to see through what needed to be done for Aqua.

 

“He’s got a strong heart. Does he intend to face Master Xehanort?” Aqua walked around the edge of the platform that depicted her and Kairi, and towards the next set of stairs.

 

That had been a question that had clung Kairi for some time. Master Yen Sid had discussed the battle they were to enter, with the help of the Keyblade wielders that were lost and in a confrontation that would test the limits of their training. It was that battle that Kairi approached with a sense of foreboding. “He does,” she answered. “We’re all training to take him on in the Keyblade Graveyard.”

 

Like Aqua had said when she battled them, Kairi was the last to leave and knew the least when it came to fighting. If not for her letters, she wouldn’t have left the place Merlin had created for her and Lea to train. What was there to say to a keyblade Master who had seen it all?

 

They approached the foot of the stairs and gazed upon the last platform. It was the Keyblade Graveyard’s clifffs that loomed over the forms of three fallen armored figures. The tallest had gone into the pose of the Lingering Will that Riku had fought. The shortest was frozen in ice, clutched by Aqua.

 

“We faced Master Xehanort. He didn’t win,” Aqua explained. “But neither did we. I think we all still bear the scars of that fight. Probably will for a very long time, too…”

 

“It’s impossible not to get hurt when facing someone like him,” Kairi looked upon the picture. “But the fact that you’re here means that even if it took time, you got back up.” Hearing Aqua doubt herself pained her, but little by little, she understood the serious young woman a little bit better. “I think we’ll have to do just that if we intend to win. Even if it means…” Kairi gripped her wrist nervously. “Even if it means accepting the danger that comes with fighting him.” A chill ran through her. But she would step forward towards whatever fate awaited her, without fear.

 

But if Aqua had proven anything, it was that someone could always give —and take— second chances, no matter how unlikely the source or how lost a cause they seemed. And Kairi didn’t believe in lost causes— not until the bitter end.

 

“You’re right,” agreed Aqua. “I think it’s time that I got back up and showed him what a disciple of Eraqus can do.” In one swift motion, she swept her hand across her body and summoned a blocky keyblade with an old-fashioned looking handle and blade.

 

A door appeared at the end of the platform, as simple as that. With a silent nod, Kairi held out her hand, as her heart felt free of a burden she had held onto ever since she had heard the story of the lost keyblade master.

 

“The way is yours, Aqua. Let’s go.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ ~ Next chapter is the last one ~ ~
> 
> I love the Dive into the Heart Sections. The cutscene segment from KH1 has this immeasurably storybook quality to it. The way the text goes “Step forward. Can you do it?” 
> 
> I forgot these two talk in KH3 until like youtubing otherwise, pfft. The last four hours of this game went down the memory hole.


	27. Worth a Thousand Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to the beach once and definitely did not look as nice as whenever any KH character falls into the ocean. How come any of these anime people never emerge covered in sand and feeling like they need to like leave, shower, and change clothes? 
> 
> Then again it looks less good in an anime cutscene if they’re like in shorts and a t shirt drying their hair and waiting for mom to come around with the van or something, idk idk

 

Sora looked to his right, where Donald was impatiently glaring at a fishing line and softly grumbling in frustration that nothing was biting. Goofy was leaned back to his other side, and had stopped paying attention to the line he had cast some time ago. Sora had suspected that the shield-wielding knight was taking a leisurely nap, which, in the afternoon Destiny Islands sun, was always tempting to do. When he and Riku had reemerged from the Realm of Darkness, they had leapt up in excitement, only to notice that Aqua and Kairi were nowhere to be found.

 

“Aww, Sora, I’m sure she’ll be alright,” Evidently, his mood had gotten quiet and serious enough that even Donald was saying something comforting.

 

“Kairi’s gone through lotsa tough battles,” Goofy, who had woken up, patted his arm gently.

 

“She’ll come back, I know it,” Rewinding his fishing line, Sora tapped Donald’s shoulder, pointed to how the hook had slipped off his fishing line some time ago, causing the duck to squawk in anger. The affirmation about where Kairi was had been more for himself than anyone else, though.

 

After fixing Donald’s next attempt to fish, Sora lay back in the boat and closed his eyes, hooking his arms over his head and laying on his hands. For some time, he had thought of Kairi as a fixed point— someone waiting safely on the horizon for things to change for the better. She was what guided him and Riku home when it seemed all but impossible.

 

But then, Sora remembered how Kairi had never been a fixed point from the very beginning.

 

At the start, everyone they knew had wanted to head out on a raft to see the world. Riku had come up with the idea to leave, and on the island, they would gather and think about how it would all come together, drawing out the worlds that existed beyond their shores. Then Tidus was called away to help with errands, and Wakka to weekly blitzball practice. Selphie stayed a little longer after that, but eventually got worried about the idea of leaving for far too long.

 

But Kairi was determined to go, no matter what. On birthdays and holidays, she unwrapped presents of sewing kits and compasses and books of adventure stories. One afternoon, Sora came across Kairi with a slate on her lap, determinedly drawing routes across the sea with bits of chalk she had saved from school. All the places Kairi had drawn at that time were made up, but there she was, imagining routes out into the universe. That was when he’d wanted to journey out more, to go along with her.

 

The memories that he had collected along the way and fought hard to get back filled the pages of a journal, kept by the King’s chronicler, memories that Sora had wanted to share with Kairi whenever he had been able to find her. But time and again, they had never found the time to.

 

It had taken Sora a while to figure out the gummiphone, but his favorite feature of it was that he could see pictures that his friends were taking as they were working or exploring different worlds with him. Riku’s had mostly been of the Realm of Darkness, with a few places like Radiant Garden that he had stopped at to rest with the King.

 

Kairi had taken a shine to it like nothing else, filling her phone’s feed with everything she was seeing for the first time, logging different heartless she was fighting, and photos of the stars seen from the view of a gummiship hold. Sora had always loved the sights and sounds of different worlds. But Kairi always had an eye for finding the unexpected, like a stage magician with something up her sleeve or the great and powerful wizard she now trained under. The way that her face was lit up by Corona’s lanterns or how she turned over the clumsy Wayfinder charm he had made were moments that lingered with him, even when battles had gotten more difficult and the Organization kept at his heels. Idly, he scrolled through the photos she had taken, as if the memories she had uploaded would bring her back to the Islands like a magical summoning spell.

 

Saving Aqua had taken Kairi away, and the darkness they would face ahead threatened to do that to any of them— him, Riku, the King, Donald and Goofy, or all of them— for good. They were running out of time, and he knew that every moment they could find together was short and precious. The time he had with her was never as long as he had wanted, but Sora was determined to make whatever little time they had left before they had to depart really count. That is, if they were able to get any more time together at all.

 

There was a soft ‘pop’ from his phone as a new notification appeared on the screen. He sat up with a jolt, looking at the top of the feed.

 

“Seawater back home is incredibly cold today, but we made it.” Clasping the shoulder of Aqua, the long-lost Keyblade Master, was Kairi, exhausted but proud. The both of them were looking towards the camera, surrounded by the small grove of trees that he recognized as the ones that grew near the cave.

 

Sora leapt from the boat and into the shallows around the island, racing off to check the shoreline on the other side of it.

 

“HEY! My catch!” Donald yelled. “I was just about to reel it in! What gives?!” Taking off with a grin that nothing could quash, Sora dodged an indignant wizard’s Blizzara spell hurled in his direction.

 

“It’s Kairi, and Master Aqua! They’ve turned up! Cmon’!”

 

Both wizard and knight perked up at the names, then leapt out of the boat to follow Sora towards the other side of the island.

 

= =

 

Kairi’s eyes blinked open as she stared into the closest confidant of the King, and sat up immediately.

 

“Pluto? Oh, boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!” She looped her arms around the dog which had guided herso many times on past adventures, and hugged him tight. Delighted, Pluto barked and licked at her face. As Kairi doled out very well-deserved behind-the-ear scratches, she noticed something light blue and familiar tucked into the dog’s collar.

 

“Wait…how did this get here?” She snatched the letter out in one motion, pressed it to her face, and groaned.

 

“I can’t believe….Pluto, you rascal, _you_ had it this whole time?! Do you _know_ how many times I worried about Sora finding it? And reading it?! Auuugh….” Kairi put her head in her hands, almost crumpling the letter in the process.

 

“Looks like you’re dealing with a lot other than keyblade training,” Aqua commented, finishing up some stretches with a wry, confident grin that only older people gave to flustered teens. Which she hadn’t appreciate when Axel had used it, and didn’t now.

 

The beginning of her training with Merlin was stressful, and to get by, Kairi had written down letters about what she had felt. None of her letters had been meant to get sent out. But at this point, one by one, they had been, and they took Kairi along to different worlds to track down their recipients. And she was happy for them to have found them. But Sora’s letter was always different, because if he had found and read it, he would know everything.

 

“What’s so bad about him reading your letter? You seem to have a way with words, Kairi.” As Aqua peered towards the sun, she smiled, plainly happy to adjust back to somewhere that wasn’t endless expanses of darkness and heartless. She spoke calmly, as if she had all the time in the world, but still knew where her priorities ahead lay. Kairi could see her leading the way capably in her time.

 

“Well, I think I known that he’s liked me. But…actually saying it is…different. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance again, with the battle ahead, and—” Kairi stopped. Obviously, a cool, grizzled warrior of yore didn’t want to hear about her awkward problem that she had been trying to avoid. But as Kairi looked towards Aqua, she found the woman looking at her understandingly.

 

“The choice is yours, but you have something incredibly precious here.” Aqua glanced towards the letter clutched tightly in Kairi’s hands, examining it thoughtfully. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s something that’ll protect the both of you.”

 

“Also, could we get something to eat?” She added sheepishly. “Time is starting to catch up, and I’ve been stuck in there a very long time…”

 

“Oh, right! I know how to call the others. Come here.” Kairi reached for the gummiphone in her pockets. “Okay, count of three, give me a smile like you’ve just conquered the realm of darkness!”

 

= = =

 

She found Sora outside on the back porch of his house, enjoying the cool evening air of the Islands one last time before the next leg of the journey. They had set up a makeshift warroom in his kitchen, where a gummiphone conference to Radiant Garden had been set up and plans were being hatched by Riku, the King and his confidants, and Aqua. A portable radio somewhere played a ballad of some sort that resounded through the neighborhood, and Sora nodded slowly to the beat.

 

“Tidus keeps playing that song on loop, ” Kairi made a face, and broke the silence. “The lyrics are a bit too corny for me, but he really likes that singer. And she’s really good, so we humor him.”

 

“Riku didn’t humor him when he tried to fight one-on-one,” Sora grimaced quickly. “That was just _embarassing_.” And it had ended fast, because even though Riku had mellowed out considerably, he didn’t take challenges lightly. The look in his eyes when they’d found her, complete with a grin that could sear through any sadness she felt, was stuck on Kairi’s mind as she considered her letter. Aqua had said that what her heart moved her to write was a precious thing, and Kairi had believed it.

 

Even so, she had wanted to make a few changes, because she’d changed from the time since she had first put pen to paper and the present. Not too many, but enough. The cream-colored paper from Corona had survived a lot, and held memories of the stars they had seen somewhere far away, in a world that had been her first test.

 

“I, um, wrote you this.”As soon as Kairi held the envelope up, it felt like an invisible weight tethered to her was either going to go away or plummet straight down into the depths.

 

“For me?” Sora repeated, holding it like he had been handed something as fragile and and tender as a heart. She had never had a doubt that he’d break hers, and she was right.

 

“Mm-hm.” 

 

“I thought you said you’d get mad if I read it.”

 

“Haha…Well, not this one…” Closing her eyes, Kairi leaned back on the railing of the porch, trying to think about anything other than her nonexistent nerves. This was the final letter, but who was to say that she hadn’t been changed? She had found her courage, no matter what happened next.

 

She had written out:

 

_Dear Sora:_

 

_Just about everything imaginable has torn us apart. A heart getting taken out, a world cracked apart, a memory being taken away and placed somewhere else. But you’ve always found me, and I’ve always found my way back because of that. But each time, I wanted to be braver, and figure out the right plan to find you and do what I could to keep you safe, too._

 

_We haven’t talked as much, but I know you’re worried. I am too, to be honest, because I’ve never seen anything like what you’ve had to fight.I mean, you have to admit that that doll you posted a photo of was_ _seriously,_ _seriously_ _creepy_ **_._ **

 

At that, he had laughed. “Yeah, definitely. I don’t know if I can ever look at a toy store the same way again.”

 

_But you never gave up. You never do, even when you’re told something is impossible fifty times in a row or when everything you’ve worked for was taken away. And even if what lies ahead separates us, even for good, I wouldn’t back down either. Do you want to know why, Sora?_

 

She clutched her hands tightly, knowing that he was nearing the end of the letter. 

 

_It’s taken a long journey just to find my way to this answer. Four words. They’re yours to take with you, if you want._

 

_Because I love you._

 

_—Kairi_

 

 

The song playing in the distance had ended, and Kairi broke the silence. “I guess I’m not really in a place to say that that song’s too corny, am I—”

 

When Sora’s arms closed around her this time, she knew instinctively that it was an answer to the words that she had carefully chosen and given away. And when he reached for her and kissed her, she realized that it was an answer that Sora had carried with him, one that spanned countless words that hadn’t been said, but demonstrated through just what he’d give up to find her again.

 

It wasn’t a weakness, what she had felt and nurtured. As Kairi regained her breath and linked hands with Sora, she realized just what had been precious about love—for him, for her friends, and for what she fought for. It filled in reasons where there were none, and fostered a relentless, illogical type of hope she could hang onto. In truth, that was Kairi’s favorite type of hope to have.

 

“Where to next?” asked Sora, as they made their way back to the house. He had never been unhappy when they’d talked, but there was a sunniness in his voice that calmed her, even though her heart pounded loud enough to drown out almost everything else.

 

“I don’t know,” answered Kairi with a smile, “but I’d should keep a better eye on my letter-writing supplies this time.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking this journey with me as I ran up to KH3's character writing and KH's general dialogue writing with a Ron Swanson style permit that read “I can do what I want” 
> 
> I really appreciate the kind comments people have left on this fic and I hope the me in 2008 who was using livejournal to write cute little adventures for Kairi to go on does too. Later!!!!


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